Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory
by tradiferis
Summary: The war is lost, Voldemort is about to kill Dumbledore and Harry when Dumbledore in a last desperate attempt sends Harry back in time with the order to change one small thing. But Harry is obliviated before the timeturner activates...[HarryTonks][complete
1. And So It Begins, A Replica

**Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory** by **Tradiferis**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything that you do not recognize is most likely mine, everything that you do recognize isn't mine. Onto the story._

**Chapters One and Two  
And So It Begins...A Replica**

Harry Potter stood over the lake and took a look at the man that stared back at him. Unruly black hair? No, the hair was long, straight and blonde. Green eyes? No, the ones staring back were silver, a very unnatural silver. A recognizable scar that entranced most of the wizarding world? Not present, only tanned skin.

Harry looked down at his own hands and watched as they transformed into old and craggy, a trick that Nymphadora Tonks had taught him about a month ago. Harry sighed as he looked at his visage in the water. Even though it was great that he was a Metamorphmagus and could change his appearance virtually at will, he was dismayed that there was one more thing that made him different than almost any other in the wizarding world.

"Why always me," Harry breathed to himself as he picked up a stone and threw it into the lake. Heaving himself up, he reverted back to his natural form before walking back up to Hogsmeade to head back to school. As he was walking he heard an explosion go off and then noticed a cloud of smoke was hovering over Hogsmeade. Speeding up his steps and taking out his wand, Harry rushed to the main street of Hogsmeade where an intense fight was underway between the Ministry's Aurors, the Order of the Phoenix, and Voldemort's Death Eaters.

Harry immediately shifted into the form he was in earlier, so the Death Eaters (and everyone else for that matter) would not recognize him, and started battling his way through the myriad of spells to get himself to Hogwarts, and out of the way of the fight. He didn't know if Voldemort was present, and had no intention of finding out. Ducking under what was surely a Killing Curse, Harry rolled into what was most likely the remains of Honeydukes, if the candy bars littering the ground were any clue. Harry positioned himself behind an overturned table and took out his Order of the Phoenix medallion, and tried to contact Professor Dumbledore through it, but no matter how many times he tried, he could not receive an answer. Putting the medallion back into his pocket, he slowly lifted his head to survey the scene.

Spells were flying everywhere, and it appeared that each side had entrenched themselves into the remains of the different stores, with only a few brave, or probably very stupid, ones venturing out from the different strongholds. Harry started to scan the area for possible escape routes when a spell went flying over his head, barely missing him. Harry immediately threw his head back down, before casting a Disillusionment Charm onto himself, so that any Death Eaters that ventured into his hiding place would not find him.

Sure enough, seconds latter, two small CRACKS were heard and two wizards with billowing black robes, and white masks were standing before him.

"Where is that bloke that was just here," questioned one of the Death Eaters, a voice that Harry recognized but could not quite place.

"Probably Apparated away," came the sarcastic sneer that Harry knew only belonged to one person: Severus Snape.

'That two-timing greasy git,' Harry thought to himself. For it seemed that Snape was truly just serving Voldemort and not the spy for the Order of the Phoenix that Dumbledore thought that he was.

Trying to keep his emotions in check, Harry slowly started to crawl away from the two Death Eaters before he heard a crack, and saw that he had placed his hand onto a chocolate bar and broken it in half. Immediately both Death Eaters looked towards his general direction and fired off immediate killing curses where they believed him to be.

Harry rolled out of the way, dodging both curses, before casting two quick stunning spells at the Death Eaters, breaking his Disillusionment Charm. The two Death Eaters easily dodged the spells, and soon Harry was fighting against the Death Eaters two on one.

"PROTEGO," Harry shouted, surrounding himself with a Shield Charm to block the many spells that were rapidly being fired at him, before he sent a Severing Charm at Snape and the other Death Eater, giving him just enough time to cast another Disillusionment Charm on himself before hurriedly running to what was once the back of the shop, and what he noticed was where the Ministry and Order stronghold was.

As he entered the area where they were he took the Charm off of himself, and was immediately accosted by who he recognized as Kingsley Shacklebolt and another Auror.

"Who are you and which side are you on," Shacklebolt questioned quite harshly. Harry took his Order of the Phoenix medallion out of his pocket and showed it to him.

"Order of the Phoenix," Harry shifted back to his natural form "and Harry Potter."

The two Aurors set him down and told him to get up to Hogwarts as quickly as possible. Harry merely nodded before shifting back into his previous form and continued through the Light's ranks, looking for Dumbledore; he had to tell him about Snape. He didn't have to wait long, because moments latter he found Dumbledore with Alastor "Mad eye" Moody about to direct some of the forces of the Light to where they believed the largest concentration of Death Eaters to be.

Waiting for Dumbledore to finish, Harry stood out of the way until the forces were sent, and then hurried up to Dumbledore, shifting his appearance into Harry Potter as he came up to Dumbledore.

"Professor I have some disturbing news," Harry started as soon as he got Dumbledore's attention, "Snape-"

"Is only pretending to be with the Death Eaters so that he can keep up appearances to Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore calmly interrupted Harry. He was about to continue on when the air around them went oddly cold, and then the wall that was protecting the Light's forces was blown apart, and standing before everyone was Lord Voldemort himself, and several of his supporters...including Snape.

"Victory is mine Dumbledore!" Voldemort bellowed as Death Eaters entered into the area and started dueling with Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry shifted back into his previous form before Voldemort and the Death Eaters could see him. Dumbledore looked pleased to see Snape, but that look of pleasure soon turned into horror as he saw Snape firing killing curses off at will, picking off members of the Light one by one. Walking over to Dumbledore and Harry, Voldemort and Snape seemed to be moving in slow motion.

"It seems 'your' spy was really ours all along Dumbledore," Voldemort said with a maniacal laugh in his voice. Snape simply sneered, and then he recognized Harry, or rather the disguise of Harry. Snape's sneer became one of intense anger, and that's when Harry noticed the gash that was across Snape's face from the Severing Charm that he had used earlier.

"Who's your little friend Dumbledore," Snape sneered at the Headmaster, with complete loathing in his voice. Harry immediately shifted to his normal appearance, and took in the look of immediate surprise on the face of Voldemort and Snape.

"So it seems you've learned a few new abilities Potter," Voldemort hissed, taking his attention off of Dumbledore for the moment, "But you are still not able to beat me!"

However, right before Voldemort was about to cast a spell, an explosion rocked the ground all around the four wizards, immediately throwing Voldemort and Snape around, but strangely not affecting Dumbledore and Harry. Harry looked at the Headmaster and saw a small wisp of smoke coming from the tip of his wand.

"Harry you need to get to the castle, you will be safe in there. Do no stay and fight-", Dumbledore was cut off when two curses went flying over the pair's heads.

Harry was about to turn around and run when he was caught up in the rubble on the ground, tripped, and fell face first onto the ground. It seemed with the manifestation of the powers of a Metamorphmagus, the innate ability to be rather clumsy also appeared. Harry quickly rolled onto his back and saw Voldemort and Dumbledore locked in a duel reminiscent of the Department of Mysteries. However, unlike their previous duel, Dumbledore was slowly losing this one. Harry was about to get up and help his professor when he felt a presence looming over him, that of one Severus Snape.

"The end is now Potter," Snape sneered as he lowered his wand to Harry's face. Right before Snape was about to surely obliterate Harry's face, he saw a flash of green light, and the blank look in Snape's eyes before his body crumpled down. Harry looked up and saw Dumbledore lying on the ground weakly holding his wand, and then saw Voldemort, who was apparently in a Full Body Bind but was quickly working his way out of it.

Harry hurried over to Dumbledore and surveyed the man who he thought once was invincible. That man now appeared near death.

"Harry," Dumbledore whispered, "In the pocket of my robes you will find a Time Turner. Instead of taking you back hours, it takes you back years. Use it to go back at least seven years and warn myself of what happens. Warn me of Severus' treachery. Change the future...Hurry!"

Harry hurriedly dug through the pockets of Dumbledore's robes until he found the Time Turner. Looking one last time at Dumbledore, who merely nodded, Harry put the Time Turner around his neck and began turning the dial back to eight years in the past. Right before he was about to finish turning the dial, however, he heard a deep voice shout a curse.

"OBLIVIATE!"

-

Patrick O'Shannon was not having what many would call a 'good day.' More like a 'good two days.' Yesterday he overslept making him late to a meeting with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, who was defiantly not one of his favorite people. In fact, Fudge was the upper most person on the list of things that Patrick O'Shannon couldn't stand, even higher than Dark Wizards. He could handle those, Fudge was a different story, Fudge was a different headache altogether.

After his meeting with Fudge, he was alerted to Dark Arts activity in the lower portion of Ireland, and since Patrick was the highest ranking Unspeakable hailing for the Irish Isle, he was the one that was picked to lead the expedition into what happened. Exactly 24 hours, and one immense fire fight later, he was making his rounds questioning all of the captured wizards. But first, he stopped in the restroom to recompose himself.

Staring at his reflection in the mirror, he noticed that he was starting to get deep worry lines in his face, not something you would normally see on someone that was 39 years of age. Splashing some water onto his face he proceeded to the next interrogation room, and found himself face to face with yet another wizard who was already dead set against answering any questions.

"Okay, let's make this easy on the both of us," Patrick began, sitting down at the table across from the wizard "Firstly, what is your name?"

"Jack Aslon, and that's all you're getting from me," the wizard exclaimed vehemently. Patrick sighed, and stood up slowly. He then pushed his chair in softly. Aslon looked at him oddly, and then his eyes widened in terror as Patrick picked up the chair and heaved it across the room with so much force that it shattered upon impact. Aslon looked absolutely horrified when Patrick pulled him nose to nose with himself.

"Listen mate," Patrick whispered in a deadly voice "There are over 300 bones in your body. Now, if you don't answer my questions, we will find out exactly how many I can break before you pass out from the pain. Got it?"

Aslon nodded frantically, and as Patrick was about to continue on with his questioning when there was a knock at the door to the interrogation room.

"What," Patrick barked out, as the door opened revealing an Unspeakable.

"Sir, the Heads sent me to tell you there is a situation that needs your immediate attention and you are to report to them immediately in the main conference room," the young agent said hurriedly before closing the door. Patrick looked piercingly at Aslon.

"I'll finish with you later," he said with a slight bit of malice in his voice before he walked out and down to the main conference room. When he arrived he noticed that members of the Department of Mysteries that dealt with Time Travel were present, and so was the head Unspeakable, Alex Warinton, who motioned for everyone (four in all) to be seated.

"Earlier this morning we had an unauthorized time travel incident occur near Hogwarts," Warinton began.

"We immediately dispatched a team," he motioned to the two other Unspeakables besides Patrick present, "Who took the time traveler back here for evaluation. After evaluation we learned that this time traveler had used a Time Turner to travel back eight years. However, the Time Turner has broken so it is impossible to return him to his time. It was also determined that this traveler possesses no risk to vastly changing the future. Thus, it has been decided that this traveler is to remain in this time, assume an identity, and live out his life.

"Now, Agent O'Shannon," Warinton said, turning to Patrick, "You are to take care of this. You will help the traveler become acquainted with this time, and set him up on the path of life that he was in before he came back. All right? Everyone is dismissed, O'Shannon, follow me."

Patrick followed Warinton out of the room and down the hallway to a holding cell.

"The time traveler should just be awakening now," Warinton told Patrick, "He was unconscious when we got him, and had to find out information through a modified Legilimens spell. We couldn't glean much, but we know that he is coming back from a war-torn future. However, we feel that you would be the best to impress upon him that he is NOT to tamper with time any more than he is now."

Warinton was about to walk away before he turned back to Patrick to tell him one last thing, "And by the way, he is who you think he is."

Patrick raised an eyebrow before entering the room to find a wizard that could not be more than 17 years old lying on a bed starting to stir. The boy was wearing tattered robes that had obvious traces of spell damage on them. Patrick looked the boy up and down and then he saw the boy open his eyes, which were green. Patrick then took notice of the unruly hair. Getting an odd feeling, Patrick looked at the boy's forehead and got the shock of his life.

Before him was a 16 year old Harry Potter.

-

Harry studied his surroundings as he came to. Before he could get far though, he was hit with a massive headache and the sudden realization that he had no idea where he was. Just as this realization came to him, he was strikingly overwhelmed with the memories of the battle at Hogsmeade.

_'Fighting Death Eaters...fighting Voldemort...Dumbledore dieing...heading back in time to stop something...But stop what?'_ Harry started to rack his mind to try to remember exactly what he was sent back to do. For the life of him though, he could not remember what it was. It was then that Harry noticed that he was being watched. Harry looked up at the man that was watching him, and noticed the man was in extreme shock.

"Er...hello," Harry said, as conversationally as possible, "Would you have any idea where I am?"

"You...you...you're Harry Potter," the man whispered in shock. Harry only sighed, rolled his eyes, and nodded affirmative. The man visibly shook himself out of his trance before taking on a more professional appearance.

"Right," the man said "First of all Mr. Potter, do you know what the current date is?"

"No I do not," Harry replied "I did just travel through time and all."

"Well, first of all, my name is Patrick O'Shannon, and I am an Unspeakable," Patrick said introducing himself "As you can probably guess, you are within the Department of Mysteries. As for the date, it is August 13th, 1988. Now Mr. Potter, how old are you currently?"

"I am 16 years old," Harry answer, taking in the information, and then sensing the next question added "And I was just nearing the end of my sixth year at Hogwarts."

"Well," Patrick said, sitting down at a table which was next to Harry's bed and conjuring up a file folder and quill "I am sorry to inform you that you will be unable to return to where you came from in the future as your Time Turner broke. Therefore, we must make a life for you in this time."

Harry nodded his head in affirmation; he had considered this possibility when Dumbledore had told him to go back. _But why did he have to go back? What was the reason that necessitated his Time Travel?_ Harry was broken away from his thoughts by Patrick clearing his throat.

"Now, before we go any farther, I must impress something onto you," Patrick said turning from a professional to a tone that suggested he was being deathly serious, "You must not change the future in any catastrophic way. You may not halt the progress of events the way that they happened in your original time line. Certain insignificant changes may take place, but nothing major. If you do, it might change you having to come back in the first place, and thus you should not exist in this timeline, however you would. That paradox is calculated to be enough to make the universe collapse upon itself. Do you understand the importance of this Mr. Potter?"

"Yes I do," Harry said meekly, all thoughts of getting Sirius out of Azkaban dashed from his mind. While that would be great, it would be a 'catastrophic change' and he absolutely did not want the universe to collapse upon itself.

"Good," Patrick said, taking on a more friendly tone "Now, we must go over some basics before we can start crafting your life. First of all, do you have any significant abilities that are uncommon among wizards?"

"Yes, I am a Metamorphmagus and a Parselmouth," Harry responded. Patrick's eyebrows rose slightly.

"A Metamorphmagus? Blimey," Patrick said, making a note of this and entirely glossing over Harry's other ability. Patrick ran a hand through his hair before asking another question.

"Have you ever participated in any organized Dark Arts activity?" Patrick questioned, taking out an instrument similar to the one that Harry had seen when he had bought his wand from Ollivander's. Sure enough, it started to take measurements in all thinkable areas of his body.

"No, I have not," Harry answered as the measuring tape-like device apparently finished and rolled itself back up before flying into Patrick's hand.

"Lovely," Patrick responded, making one final note before looking back up at Harry, "Now, seeing that you are a Metamorphmagus, this next part should be fairly simple. As I have already said, you will not be able to use your current appearance or identity because there is already a Harry Potter present in this world. Now, do you have a preferred appearance with your Metamorphmagus powers? We can make that your 'legal' appearance..."

Patrick trailed off, inviting Harry to answer. Harry had but to think for only a moment before nodding his head, and at Patrick's invitation, changed into his preferred appearance.

Gone once again was the black hair and green eyes, the lighting bolt scar, and the short stature of only 5 feet 7 inches. In their place were things quickly becoming familiar: long blonde hair and unnatural silver eyes, tanned skin, and a medium stature of 6 feet 2 inches.

Patrick took Harry in with an appraising look before calmly stating, "You look like a Malfoy."

Harry instantly had a horrified expression on his face, and quickly changed again. Blonde quickly became black, and the silver eyes turned a bright blue, a very unnatural bright blue. All the rest stayed the same however.

"You do seem to have a flair for an appearance that is unnatural," Patrick observed very dryly, writing down a few notes.

"I like to be noticed by my own doings," Harry retorted. Patrick merely raised his eyebrows before continuing.

"Now, as you can probably guess, we also need to change your wand signature, as yourself in the present time must get the same wand that you have, or we will have another paradox on our hands," Patrick said with a small smirk. Opening a box which had just appeared on the table he continued on, "Now, may I see your wand?"

Harry handed him his wand, and watched as Patrick inserted the tip of the wand into the box, which glowed slightly. After the box had dimmed, Patrick took the wand out and placed it on a piece of paper, before handing it back to Harry.

"You should have no problem with wand signature now," Patrick remarked, before leaning back, stretching, and turning the page in the file folder, "We just have a few things left, but we don't need to necessarily finish them now. In fact, I think it would be best if we did not."

Harry raised an eyebrow as Patrick conjured a book and tossed it to him. He motioned for Harry to look at the book, which was entitled _How To Become Someone Else: Tips on Changing Your Name and Identity_. Harry looked back up at Patrick with a slightly quizzical look on his face.

"We can't have two Harry Potters running around this world, now can we?" Patrick stated quite calmly.

"Point taken," Harry murmured, starting to leaf through the book, but only half-heartedly before looking back up at Patrick again.

"We also need you to take a series of aptitude tests, so you have an official record in this time period," Patrick paused for a second, before conjuring up a second book and handing that one to Harry also, "Since you are past your fifth year in school, you also need to decide on a career path. I would suggest either Auror or even yet Unspeakable for you, based upon your..._unique_ abilities and situation."

Patrick stood up and looked at his watch before yawning.

"Well, I must be off, but I will be back tomorrow morning. Please have your decisions made by then," Patrick stated. Patrick was about to walk out of the door when Harry thought of something that he noticed hadn't been said before.

"What is my birthday going to be?" Harry asked; with all the other details of his life that had been gone over, why hadn't this one?

"Ah, good question," Patrick replied, sitting back down for a moment, "Well normally, for cases like these at least when we are assigning a person a new identity, we create a packet of information that details a person's 'life' down to the most finite details. Their whole background story you could say...including their birthday. I think though, that since you asked I can come up with a birthday on the spot."

Patrick thought for a second, surveying Harry, who just simple intoned, "How about August 13th?"

"Good pick Mr. Potter," Patrick said with a chuckle, "Well now, I must be off. Have a nice night."

With that, Patrick made a tip of the hat gesture to Harry, before walking out of the room and closing the door.

Harry looked at the wall for a moment before sighing and opening the first book that was handed to him, _How To Become Someone Else_. He noticed as he was reading that the book was specifically tailored to those that had traveled through time and had to assume another identity.

"My life is a circus," Harry muttered to himself as he paged through the book. He finally stopped reading after he got to the part that stated how your name had new identity had to at least slightly match your appearance. Harry took his wand and conjured up a mirror. He stared at it for a few minutes, before deciding, "German."

He then flipped the book through the pages until he came to the section devoted on German names, and then started to look for a name that he liked.

"Adie, short form of Adolf...NO," Harry muttered to himself as he continued to search through the names. He had almost given up hope when he came upon one that stood out to him the most, "Ludwig - pronounced either 'LOOT-vik' or 'LUD-wig,' this name means 'famous warrior' and is a popular name for male Germans...well if that's not me, then I don't know what is. Now for a surname..."

After a thorough search, Harry decided upon a surname that would provide a tie to his 'past' life, the only problem was, he couldn't find anything that would provide either a proper fit, or made sense. It was finally decided that his name could have no significant ties to "Harry Potter." Sighing, Harry continued to narrow down his search until he came to one final one that made the most sense to him, "Waechter - warden, watchman. Perfect, I have been sent her to watch over something...I just can't remember what."

Harry sighed as he closed the book, and wrote down _Ludwig Waechter_ on a piece of parchment that was on the table that Patrick had conjured. Looking at a clock that was on the wall he noticed that it was 11 at night. Yawning slightly, Harry noticed that other book that Patrick had given him, the one on careers. Taking Patrick's advice, Harry turned to the section on the Unspeakables and started to read a vague passage on some of the duties that they carried out.

However, before he could get far into the book, sleep started to overtake him. Yawning once more, Harry marked his place in the book before turning out the light in the room, and going to sleep.

-

Harry was awoken the next morning by the lights being thrown on and sensing the presence of someone above him.

"Good day t' you Mr. Potter," Patrick said with a bit of cheer in his voice. Harry groggily focused his eyes and stared at Patrick.

"Not a morning person are we?" Patrick asked with a bit of mirth in his voice, before handing Harry a potion, "This should wake you up right quick. It's why I'm as awake as I am."

Harry took the potion and quickly downed it, before spitting most of it out. It was hotter than anything he ever had!

"What was that?" Harry questioned, now fully awake.

"Enhanced Pepper-Up Potion," Patrick chuckled before opening up Harry's file again. He raised an eyebrow at Harry's new identity, "German, eh? Well then, Ludwig, choose a career path that you would like?"

"I didn't get too far into looking at the careers, but Unspeakable seems interesting," Harry said. Patrick nodded his head.

"Oh! I almost forgot," Patrick said, conjuring up some clothes and handing them to Harry, who gratefully took them, "Now, Unspeakable, yes, glorious career if I do say so myself. Now, why don't you change your clothes and we will do some academic testing on you in order to give you some academic standing, and also so we can guide you into your career path accordingly."

With that, Patrick exited Harry's room. Harry sighed before putting on the clothes that Patrick had handed to him.

'It's going to be one long day.'

As it turned out, the day wasn't as long as Harry thought it was going to be. As he was going to be entering his sixth year at Hogwarts, he only needed to know everything that a normal sixth year would know. And since he already had advance knowledge of the sixth year curriculum as he had already taken most of it, his modified OWLs went by quickly, and he even managed to score Outstanding or Exceeds Expectations on every subject, including Outstanding in both Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions - which was necessary to be accepted in the Unspeakables.

"So Harry, any questions you have from today?" Patrick asked as he led Harry back to his 'room.'

"Yes, what exactly do the Unspeakables do?" Harry questioned. Patrick looked deep in thought for a moment, before silently motioning Harry to follow him into a room where he cast a couple of silencing charms on it so people couldn't eavesdrop on them.

"I'm really not supposed to tell you much," Patrick said with a serious look on his face, "But, I feel you would thrive in this career, and I have this odd feeling that I need to tell you. We're called the "Department of Mysteries" for a reason. We deal with all the major mysteries of the magical world, stuff that people don't know heads or tails about. It ranges from Dark Arts activities to object research. Now, in the terms of Dark Arts activities, we usually turn those cases over to the Aurors and those blokes. Now, we're also called the Department of Mysteries because EVERYTHING that we do is kept secret unless we decide for it to not be so. We are the only Department within the Ministry that does not have to answer to the Minister of Magic. Does that help?"

Harry took this all in for a second before getting a small smile on his face, "Sounds like fun."

"Oh it is," Patrick said, "But we need to get you back to your room.

-

Harry leaned back in the bed in the 'holding compartment' that he had woken up in. The next day he would be set up in a room in the Leaky Cauldron, and given just enough money to buy clothes, food, and all the supplies that he needed to attend school. The Unspeakables had also set him up with a small bank account at Gringotts that would always have a minimum balance of 100 Galleons until Harry graduated from Hogwarts as long as, "You don't abuse it," as Patrick had told him.

Harry sighed as he leaned back into the bed. The Unspeakables had also said they would be keeping tabs on Harry so as to make sure he didn't vastly change his future (or what they knew of it), and so he would remain on the right path to becoming an Unspeakable himself.

As sleep overtook him, Harry had but one thought running through his head. The same thought that had been bugging him since the moment that he had woken up in August of 1988.

_"Why am I here? Why was I sent back? What was I supposed to do?"_

**End Chapter**


	2. A Happenstance Immersion, Ternary

**Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory** by **Tradiferis**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything that you do not recognize is most likely mine, everything that you do recognize isn't mine. Onto the story._

**Chapters Three and Four  
A Happenstance Immersion...One That Is Ternary**

_Harry let the couch envelope him, he was tired from the Metamorphmagus training session that Tonks had just given to him. She had told him that he was a fast learner, and he was, it was just tiring._

_"Don't worry," she had told him when they were finished for the day, "Soon enough it will be second nature to you."_

_Just to illustrate this further to him, she rapidly changed her hair color and facial features, giving him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Harry also gave her a smile before exiting the room, traveling to where he was now: a couch in front of a fire place at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place._

_Harry sighed as he remembered the look on Tonks' face: it was one that he was wearing often himself. Tonks apparently was deeply affected by the death of her favorite cousin, almost as much as Harry was. Harry had also overheard how she was also very worried about her boyfriend, who worked in the Department of Mysteries and was currently on what he had only told her was a, "very dangerous assignment."_

_"Wotcher, Harry."_

_Harry looked up as Tonks padded into the room with a cup of tea. Giving her a smile he turned back to watch the fire as she sat down next to him._

_"Missing Ron and Hermione?" she asked after a couple minutes of staring into the fire with him while drinking her tea._

_"A bit," Harry said after a few moments. Earlier in the summer The Burrow had been attacked by Death Eaters, and as such the whole of the Weasley that still lived there had been evacuated to an "undisclosed location" and placed under the Fidelius Charm, the same with Hermione and her family. As such, they were cut off from the rest of the world. Harry looked over to Tonks and saw her playing with a ring on her finger._

_"What's that?" Harry asked, motioning to the ring. Tonks smiled briefly for a moment before responding._

_"Oh, it's an engagement ring from my boyfriend," she said, with a happy look on her face. Harry started, he didn't even know Tonks had a boyfriend, much less was engaged! This astonishment must have shone through on his face as she laughed and said, "Oh don't worry, not too many people know. We wanted to keep it on the 'down low' with me being an Auror and him being an Unspeakable and all."_

_"Your fiancé is an Unspeakable?" Harry questioned, slightly intrigued. He noticed that Tonks got a sort of cloudy look in her eyes before she answered._

_"Yes, one of the best apparently, seeing as he's always away," Tonks replied, sighing. Deciding to help cheer her up, as Harry had noticed lately that by talking to other people about subjects other than him helped to make him forget his own, he continued to ask Tonks about her fiancé._

_"So what's he like," Harry asked, turning towards Tonks some more, and instantly getting the reaction that he wanted as he saw her face light up._

_"Oh Luddie is wonderful," Tonks said, with a silly grin on her face, "He is so caring, and I love him more than anyone in the world, and him to me."_

_Harry smiled slightly as he saw Tonks get a happy faraway look on her face before continuing._

_"I think you two would really hit it off if you ever met," Tonks continued, "You have similar personalities…although you don't have a tendency to always be out of the country on assignment."_

_Harry chuckled when he saw Tonks was too._

_"When did you guys get engaged?" Harry posed to Tonks._

_"Right after the Department of Mysteries fiasco," Tonks said getting sullen for a moment, before brightening up slightly, "It really helped me get through everything that was happening at the time…"_

_She trailed off, obviously not wanting to continue, which Harry was grateful for; he didn't need to be reminded about the ordeal anymore than he was already. He was about to say something when he was stopped by a voice from the doorway._

_"I was told that a celebrity and a beautiful woman were in this room together," an inquisitive male voice sounded. Harry and Tonks immediately whipped around to see who the intruder was, and as soon as Tonks saw the man she lit up like Harry had never seen her and bounded for the person._

_"Luddie!" Tonks yelled, reaching the person in mere seconds, before enveloping the man she identified as Luddie in a massive hug, and kissing him sound on the lips, which he gladly reciprocated. They stopped after a few seconds, when Harry coughed nervously._

_"Oh, I almost forgot," Tonks said, startled, "Harry, meet Luddie; Luddie, meet Harry Potter."_

_"Pleased to meet you," Luddie said with an accent that Harry didn't quite recognize, stepping forward and shaking Harry's hand._

_"Pleasure is all mine," Harry responded as he took his seat again, and Tonks and Luddie took a seat opposite of him…_

Harry sighed as he opened up his eyes. The dream had been about one of the last happy moments in his life the past 12 months. Tonks had been right; he and Luddie did hit it off, with Luddie saying that he would help Harry out in the future if he ever got the chance. While he did meet up with the man a few more times, he was now marooned in the past and wouldn't be able to receive any help from him.

Harry quickly took a shower and changed his clothes, today was the day that he officially began a new life. Walking out of his 'room' he was met by Patrick, who was going to escort him to Gringott's, help get him situated with his account, and then more of less send him on his way.

"You all ready?" Patrick asked, as they walked out of the Ministry of Magic. Harry nodded his head, while Patrick continued; "Now you know that to complete your new wardrobe you will need to speak properly, right?"

"Ja," Harry responded, using one of the few German words that he remembered from a book he had read at the Dursley's one time. While he did not know much German, he was able to manipulate his voice to have a Germanic accent thanks to his Metamorphmagus abilities. One of the first things Tonks had taught him was how to change his voice, as it 'kept up appearances.' He was also provided with a book from the Unspeakables that would teach him the language quickly so that he could better fit his new self.

Harry was brought out of his thoughts when he tripped, quite painfully, on one of Gringott's steps. Patrick only smirked as he helped Harry up.

"New feet mate?" Patrick asked once Harry was back up.

"Bugger off," Harry said, amazing Patrick with his perfected accent. After getting him all set up with his account, Patrick gave him the money that he needed to get his supplies for Hogwarts, as well as his list of supplies.

"I contacted Headmaster Dumbledore about your 'unique' situation," Patrick said, "He'll be owling you later in the week t' have a meeting with him.

"Also, you'll be pleased to know that you have a room at the Leaky Cauldron until you go to Hogwarts, just go see Tom the bartender and everything will be set up."

"Danke," Harry replied, slipping into his 'act' that was going to become his new life. Patrick looked around quickly before continuing on.

"Also, I'll be in contact with you throughout the year, to 'keep an eye on you' so to speak. Don't mention me, or our 'friends' to anyone else, only a few select people know," Patrick whispered to Harry rather quickly, before sighing and offering his hand to Harry, "Well, I'll be seeing you Ludwig. Have fun."

With that Patrick Disapparated, leaving Harry standing alone on the steps of Gringott's bank. Harry sighed, and then walked to the Leaky Cauldron in order to check in, figuring he had a few weeks to get everything that he needed for school, so he would take everything slowly. He also had to get a copy of the Daily Prophet so he could find out just what was going on in this time so he would be able to fit in better.

-

After checking in, Harry settled into his room and counted out how much money Patrick had given him, so he knew what to buy and what not to buy. When he was done he found that he had been given a total of 100 galleons. Deciding to at least buy some of his school books in order to occupy himself, Harry walked back out into Diagon Alley.

On his way he picked up the latest copy of the Daily Prophet, just so he would at least know the days headlines. He noticed that Minister Fudge ('He's already the Minister?' Harry thought in his head, trying to rack his brain for important dates he had picked up in his 'previous life') had almost been abducted by Vampires before being rescued by a group of Aurors. Deciding that Fudge hadn't changed much in the past eight years, Harry continued his walk to Flourish and Blotts.

Along the way he caught a glance of himself in a mirror, staring at it for a minute, Harry took in his appearance.

'Who cares if I look slightly like a Malfoy,' Harry thought to himself before looking around making sure no one was watching before changing his hair color back to blonde. Taking another look at himself and deciding he was satisfied, Harry decided to get some new clothes first, as the only clothes that he had consisted of the robes he was wearing and the other robes that he had been given by the Unspeakables that were currently residing in the trunk the Unspeakables had also provided to him.

Entering Madam Malkin's he quickly got outfitted in his Hogwarts robes, and then bought himself some other clothes, both formal and leisure clothes. It was during this experience that he found that black looked the best on him in his "Ludwig" appearance, so he bought clothes that fit that. Walking out with his bag in tow, he headed for Flourish and Blotts.

Walking in he noticed that many families were already present, probably trying to 'beat the rush' but only creating one themselves. Harry sighed, deciding that he would have to pick up all of his books himself because every assistant was busy at the moment. Walking straight to the Defense Against the Dark Arts section to begin with, he started his search for the books that he needed.

Ten minutes later, he had found almost every book that he needed, and was just about to get the Transfiguration book that he needed when someone ploughed into him from behind, causing all of his and the person's books to fly all over the place in the, thankfully, deserted aisle.

Momentarily fazed, Harry looked up and noticed a hand being held down to his face.

"I am so sorry," came a slightly familiar sounding voice "I didn't even see you there, and then I tripped, and then I ploughed into you, and then, oh now I'm rambling."

Harry took the proffered hand and got up, dusting himself off. Looking up at the person that had knocked him over for the first time he saw a dazzling young witch with blonde hair and purple eyes.

Staring at each other for a couple of seconds, the girl finally spoke again, "Are you alright?"

Knocked out of his trance Harry replied, "Yes, thanks for asking."

"I'm so sorry," the witch said to him again. Harry only smiled before waving his wand to pick up their books. One of the things that Patrick had done for him was get the "Under aged" signature removed from his wand, due to Harry's slightly 'unique' situation.

"Don't worry about it, I have the same problem," Harry replied with a slight laugh in his voice.

"You aren't from around here are you?" the witch asked him again, as Harry handed her books to her.

"Nein, I just moved here from Germany," Harry responded, and a look of comprehension dawned on the witch's face.

"Ah, that explains the accent," she retorted, "Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Nymphadora Tonks, but if you ever call me Nymphadora it will not be pleasant."

Harry only raised an eyebrow, amused, "Nice to meet you Fräulein Tonks. You may call me Ludwig Waechter."

Offering his hand to her, the now identified Nymphadora Tonks just laughed before shaking it.

"So you just moved here, eh?" she asked Harry, who only nodded "Where are you staying?"

Harry reached up to grab the Transfiguration book that he needed, "Leaky Cauldron. My parents decided that it was time that I learned to live out on my own, so they sent me to stay here until Hogwarts started up."

"So you are going to Hogwarts?" Tonks asked as they walked out of the aisle. Harry nodded again, as Tonks turned to face him.

"Well, I should probably be getting back to me mum," Tonks told him, holding her books to her chest "Would you like a tour of London later this week?"

"Sure, that would be great," Harry said, trying to fake being exasperated "I have no clue where anything is."

"That's never good, what room are you staying at in the Leaky Cauldron," Tonks questioned, but before he could answer he was interrupted by a loud voice.

"NYMPHADORA, WHERE ARE YOU," came the voice, causing Tonks to cringe.

"And that would be mum," Tonks said, shaking her head, causing her hair to flip out from in front of her face.

"Room 15," Harry quickly said.

"See you later Ludwig," Tonks said, before turning around and running over to her mother, almost tripping over a stack of books on the floor. Harry watched her depart before paying for his books and walking back to the Leaky Cauldron. Something had seemed familiar about her, but he just couldn't place who she was. Deciding that it wasn't important and that he would figure it out later, he didn't pay much attention to it afterwards.

-

As he settled in to read one of his defense books and drink a cup of tea, Harry looked at his dresser and noticed a necklace was laying on it. Harry remembered that he had been given that necklace by Tonks' fiancé before he left…wait. TONKS?!

Harry spit out the tea that was in his mouth. _"Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Nymphadora Tonks…_

"Tonks is my age," Harry said out loud to himself, and for the first time in the past couple days he seemed slightly happy. For he now had an unexpected road to his 'previous' life…

Harry was anxious the rest of the day, for he knew that two, quite possibly, big things were coming up. One, he was awaiting an owl from Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Two, Tonks had said she was going to be owling him to 'show him around London.' Seeing as he had no way of communicating with her as he had neither an owl, or knew where she lived, he was basically left to wait for her. And Dumbledore, he added to himself almost as an afterthought.

Throwing himself into his Transfiguration textbook, Harry studied intently until a knock came on his door. Wondering who would be visiting him, seeing only a select few people in this world knew him, let alone even knew where he was staying, Harry cautiously opened the door to an old man with long purple robes, purple wizards hat, long white beard, and a long crooked nose – Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Good evening Herr Waechter," Dumbledore said, almost serenely and with the ever present twinkle in his eye, "I hope I am not disturbing you, may I come in?"

"Oh not at all Professor, and please make yourself at home," Harry said, letting Dumbledore into the room. He supposed that he should have expected the man to just show up, as he had found throughout the six years he had known the man previously he had just that same tendency to do. He watched as Dumbledore rearranged the table and chairs in the room so that he and Harry could sit across from each other.

As Harry closed the door he heard the Headmaster cast a locking charm on it, along with some spells on it which Harry recognized as protection spells to ward against eavesdropping.

"Please sit down Mr. Potter, we have much to discuss," Dumbledore said with a slight smile on his face as Harry shifted to his normal appearance. Harry took a seat at the table and watched as Dumbledore conjured some tea along with some pastries.

"I would ask 'How was the trip' but I have a feeling that you weren't sent back for a vacation," Dumbledore said with a slight seriousness to his voice. Harry sighed slightly before starting.

"Your feeling would be correct Headmaster," Harry said, as Dumbledore took a small sip from his cup of tea, "I come from a war torn time."

"The Unspeakables told me as much," Dumbledore said, setting down his cup, before looking at Harry with a gazing glance, "Tell me, is Voldemort the cause of this?"

"Yes," Harry replied, throwing up some small mental shields in case Dumbledore had the urge to peer into his mind. While he wouldn't fault Dumbledore for being curious, that curiosity could complicate many things.

"I won't ask anymore so I will not throw off the time line," Dumbledore responded, looking slightly older than normal for a minute, before perking up, "Now tell me Harry, I was told you were interested in becoming an Unspeakable?"

The night continued like this, with Harry and Dumbledore having pleasant conversation. At about 10 o'clock, Dumbledore stood up.

"Well, I must be off, I have a long day tomorrow," Dumbledore said, walking towards the door, "Oh, don't worry about your identity Ludwig."

Harry took this as a cue to switch back to 'Ludwig.'

"I will not tell anyone about it, you will be able to play the role of a transfer student without any complications."

"Danke," Harry responded, before Dumbledore walked out of the door. Harry closed it and took a look around the room. He was about to change into his night clothes, when a package on the table caught his eye. Curious, Harry walked over to it and saw a note on top of it.

_Mister Potter-_

_I hope that this helps you remember your past better. Think of it as a gift from an 'old friend.'_

The writing was obviously Dumbledore's, which intrigued Harry even more. Opening up the package Harry was shocked to see that it was a Pensieve, but a different looking one than the one that occupied Dumbledore's office. Harry noticed that there appeared to be a memory in the basin already, and pulled it out. What appeared was Dumbledore.

_"Mr. Potter, the Unspeakables also told me about how you can not remember much of what happened in the future. I am giving this Pensieve to you so that it might help you unlock your own mind so to speak. I hope that you are able to do this, as the Pensieve is a great instrument for sorting ones own thoughts as well as noticing patterns and the like. This might also help unlock memories that are hidden. I hope you find a place for yourself in this world. Goodnight, Mr. Potter."_

With that, the image of Dumbledore vanished back into the basin. Harry momentarily stunned that Dumbledore would give him such a gift and help out someone he didn't know well (at least in this timeline), considered Dumbledore's words. They were right, the Pensieve would be instrumental in helping to unlock the memories that he could not remember; such as _why he was here_. Sighing once again, Harry placed the instrument into his trunk before changing his clothes and falling asleep in his bed.

Harry was awoken the next morning by the soft 'hooting' of an owl. His eyes still blurry from sleep, it took him a few seconds to focus in on where the owl was in his room, which happened to be on the bedside table. Harry looked at the brown owl and noticed that it looked a lot like the Hogwarts school owls. Taking the letter, the owl hooted again before flying off.

Breaking the seal on the letter, Harry noticed that it was from Dumbledore.

_Mr. Waechter-_

_I forgot to mention to you that you will need to be sorted into one of the four school houses before you attend Hogwarts. On the twenty-ninth of August at four in the afternoon this letter will turn into a port key that will bring you to my office so that you may be sorted…_

The letter went on to describe the four Houses, and also to describe the sorting process. Harry laughed a bit to himself; Dumbledore was going all out to insure that his identity remained in check. Harry also noticed that Dumbledore had sent him all the homework assignments that he needed for the upcoming year. Harry only shook his head, since he had completed most of his sixth year already; he would have little to no problem with the work.

Harry settled into a routine over the next couple of days. He would wake up around mid-morning, eat breakfast, study a bit from his textbooks, do a bit of his homework, and then go swimming in a community pool that he had found near the Leaky Cauldron. Roughly a week and a half before his sorting, he woke up to another owl perched next to his head, although this one did not look like a Hogwarts owl. This particular owl was black with white splotches, and was staring intently at him, waiting almost impatiently. Harry just shook his head before relieving the owl of its load. The owl hooted once, before almost immediately flying out of the window, but not before coming dangerously close to cuffing him.

Harry unfolded the letter and saw some unfamiliar writing on it.

_Wotcher!_

_I don't know if you quite remember me, but it's Nymphadora Tonks, the witch that ran into you the other day at Flourish and Blotts (I'm sorry about that once again, I really didn't mean to, I just have this tendency to trip over things, and well, I'm rambling again). Anyway, I don't know if you remember or not, but I offered to show you around London, and you said you'd like to take me up on that offer. Well, I'm free tomorrow (Friday if you're counting), so if you would like, just owl me back. Hopefully Oliver didn't take off without waiting; he's such a temperamental owl…Well if he did, just tell your owl to find me at No. 12, Kingston Drive. It's a small magical suburb of muggle London, so don't worry about causing questions amongst my neighbors. Anyway, send your response Ludwig! I'm waiting!_

_- Tonks_

Harry's eyes widened as he read the letter. After Professor Dumbledore had visited he had completely forgotten about Tonks! Quickly writing a letter to her that he would meet her at the Leaky Cauldron at noon on Friday (or tomorrow, they were the same thing), he went to send the note when he remembered that he no longer had an owl to send letters with.

Deciding to rectify that, he quickly got changed and exited the Leaky Cauldron into Diagon Alley. Making a quick stop at Gringott's, he then proceeded to Magical Menagerie (which was the closest to Gringott's) intent on purchasing an owl.

After twenty minutes, however, and looking over what seemed like hundreds of owls, none of them appealed to Harry. Sighing, he decided to check Eeylops Owl Emporium. Once again, not a single owl appealed to Harry. The shopkeepers at both stores said that much like the wand, the owl chooses the wizard, and it seemed these owls weren't choosing him. Sighing, he headed back to Magical Menagerie, hoping he had possibly missed an owl.

When he walked in though, he was startled when a black bird the size of Hedwig landed on his shoulder, cawing, and giving Harry what he only could interpret as a look of affection.

"Sweet Merlin!" came a voice, causing Harry to turn around to see where the voice came from, which was the shop owner's. The owner came running up to Harry, "That bird has been in this shop for over 8 years and has never chosen a wizard!"

"I take it that this bird choose me," Harry questioned, looking at the bird as it jumped down onto Harry's forearm and looked up at it's new master.

"Oh yes, and it is a fine bird too," the owner went on, walking Harry over to the counter.

"What kind of bird is it?"

"Oh, it's a raven sir! One of the most intelligent birds in the world, yet fiercely independent, for which is why wizards barely ever use them. But I dare say you will not have a problem with this one, as ravens choose the wizards that they are with for life."

"That's great to know," Harry said as he paid for the bird, along with a cage for it, some food, and a book about magical ravens.

Returning to the Leaky Cauldron Harry reentered his room, with the raven on his shoulder the entire way. As soon as Harry closed the door, the raven flew over to the perch that was on the bedside table. Harry looked at the bird, curving his eyebrow slightly.

"What should we call you?" Harry asked out loud to the raven, who gave him a response he wasn't anticipating.

"Edgar," the raven said with a bit of a caw in its voice. Harry, needless to say, was shocked.

"You can talk?" Harry questioned it. The bird's only response was to grab the book about ravens that was on the bed, and open it to the page about magical raven's properties.

_Ravens, when in a magical environment possess the ability of having limited speech. Usually they know only their names, along with a few things that its master can teach it to say…_

"Well that explains it," Harry said, before grabbing the letter that he had written to Tonks in response to the one he had received a little over an hour ago. Harry sighed as Edgar flew out of the window. It was going to be a long twenty four hours. Harry sighed once again, grabbed the book on ravens, and the walked out of the room down to the inn to buy himself some lunch.

-

Harry woke up to a soft cawing coming from next to his bed. Looking over he saw Edgar sitting on his perch. Looking over at the bedside clock, he noticed that it was 10 in the morning, giving him two hours to meet Tonks.

Standing up he gave Edgar a treat, and noticed that there was a letter for him also on the bedside table in Tonks' handwriting.

"She wrote me back," Harry questioned the raven, who nodded. Harry shook his head, he would have to get used to the birds intelligence. He read the letter, which only said that Tonks would be able to meet him at noon, and to make sure to dress in 'muggle-ish' clothes. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he continued to get ready.

After he was all dressed he noticed that he still had a little over an hour till he had to meet Tonks. He looked at the mirror and started to shift around his appearance. It was a little trick he had learned that helped him practice his Metamorphmagus skills, and it helped to pass the time. However, once his face started to change he heard Edgar give off almost a strangled cry. Quickly reverting back to his normal appearance, he looked back at Edgar.

"What's wrong?" Harry questioned his raven, which just looked back at him oddly. Looking back in the mirror, he changed to his "Ludwig" appearance, which seemed to calm the raven down some. Looking back at it, he explained, "I have the ability to change my appearance at will, so I might look different sometimes. You can read magical signatures, correct?"

The raven nodded.

"Then just read mine, that way you will be able to tell if it is me or not."

The raven nodded again, apparently accepting this. Harry decided to just go down to the Leaky Cauldron early; perhaps Tonks would show up early as well. As luck would have it…

"Wotcher Ludwig!" came an excited greeting from behind Harry who had just settled into a booth to eat an early lunch. This greeting caused Harry to spit his tea out all over the person sitting in the booth in front of him. He muttered a quick sorry to the person before turning to Tonks.

"Good morning Fräulein Tonks," Harry returned in kind, smiling. Tonks also smiled to Harry as she sat down in the seat across from Harry.

"Sorry I'm a bit early, but mum had people coming over, and lightly suggested that I go early," she said with a bit of mirth in her voice. Harry chuckled, as he could probably guess why Tonks' mother had 'lightly suggested' for her to go early: Tonks was sporting medium length deep purple hair.

"That's fine, join me in lunch?" Harry asked.

"Don't mind if I do," Tonks replied, singling to Tom the bartender (who had just come over) what she wanted. As soon as she was done, they started talking again.

"Nice hair," Harry remarked.

"Thanks," Tonks replied with a grateful smile, "Glad to see at least someone appreciates my style. So tell me, how long have you been in England?"

"Oh, not much more than a week, if that," Harry replied, as Tonks' food appeared on the table. Harry took note that she was slightly clumsy with her fork for a few seconds, before reining it in. Harry silently chuckled to himself; he had the same problem right after he became an active Metamorphmagus. He continued, "London is dreadfully confusing. The only places I know are the few places in Diagon Alley, and the community swimming pool a few streets from here on the muggle side."

"Well, we're going to have to fix that today aren't we," Tonks said with a small smile on her face. Harry noticed that today she had deep purple eyes to match her hair. He also noticed that he fell slightly into them. He gave himself a mental shake when he heard Tonks asking a question, "Do you have any musical interests?"

"To tell you the truth, I have never listened to much music, and the stuff that I have is classical," Harry replied, being totally honest. He was forbidden to listen to music while at the Dursley's, and while in the wizarding world he never had the time to really pay attention to music.

"Well, I'm going to have to show you around on that too," Tonks replied, getting a sort of analyzing look on her face, causing Harry to chuckle. He was quickly coming to enjoy this 'younger version' of Tonks almost as much as the one from his original timeline.

After the pair were done eating, Tonks immediately lead Harry out of the Leaky Cauldron and started leading him down the street, pointing out the different stores on it. While they were walking down the street Harry caught sight of what Tonks was wearing; a pair of not so neatly pressed khakis and a slightly larger than necessary long-sleeve shirt.

After a few minutes of walking Harry found himself in front of a High Streets.

"This is the main source of entertainment around here," Tonks explained as they walked inside, "Everything the teenager needs…shopping, video game arcade, and a cinema. I can tell you're about as overjoyed as I am."

"Whoo-hoo," Harry said sarcastically with a small smirk on his face, causing Tonks to laugh.

"I usually spend most of my free time looking at clothes my mother will never let me buy, or in the arcade, spending money I really shouldn't be spending," Tonks said with a childish grin on her face. Harry just laughed as Tonks pulled him along into the arcade, where they spent a few hours playing a couple games. Harry found that he wasn't that bad at the games, and he and Tonks were able to make the most out of a relatively low amount of funds.

As they were leaving, Tonks looked at her watch and smacked her fore-head.

"Oh, I forgot mum told me to give her a ring after a few hours," Tonks said, walking to the nearest pay phone, before saying to Harry, "Just give me a second, this shouldn't take to long."

Harry just leaned up against the booth and started to twiddle his thumbs, which caused Tonks to laugh. After a couple of rings, Tonks' call was answered, and Harry listened in on the side of the conversation that he could hear.

"Oi mum! It's your darling daughter," Tonks said in a sweet voice, before getting a slightly perturbed look on her face, "No mum, I didn't set Mrs. Henderson's cat on fire a few minutes ago, I'm at the shopping plaza with Ludwig…yes the boy I met a few days ago…yeah, he's really nice…oh? I'll ask."

Tonks covered the phone in her hand before turning to Harry, "Would you be interested in coming over for supper? My mum is making roast beef with Yorkshire, and it's pretty wicked in my opinion…"

Harry, knowing he had nothing better to do, and wanting to spend more time with Tonks, replied, "Tell your mother I would be honored to come over."

He saw Tonks' face light up briefly before giving him a smile and turning back to the phone, "He said he would love to mum…okay, be home in a bit."

She hung up the phone and turned to Harry, "Okay, mum says that dinner will be ready in about an hour, and it takes half of that to get home, so we better start making our way to my house."

"Lead the way," Harry said, with a sweeping gesture of his hand that caused Tonks to laugh.

Along the way to Tonks' house she stopped in a corner store really quickly to pick up something her mother had asked her to get. Harry waited outside, just looking around, trying to get some sense of where he was. While he was doing this, he noticed a design on a wall of a store that caught his eye. Looking around to see if anybody was watching him, he quickly copied the design onto his arm using his Metamorphmagus abilities. Deciding he didn't like it, he just shook his arm, causing his arm to once again become vacant.

"Oi! Ludwig," came a voice from besides Harry, causing Harry to whip around, and in the process, become entangled in his clothes and fall down. Groaning slightly he looked up to see Tonks looking at him with a queer look on her face, before offering him a hand.

"What were you doing with your arm?" she asked with the queer look still on her face, as Harry brushed his clothes off.

"Oh nothing," Harry said smoothly, not wanting for Tonks to know at the exact moment he was a Metamorphmagus. Tonks just shook her head before commenting, "You are an odd fellow Ludwig."

"Danke," Harry replied with light sarcasm in his voice. Tonks just laughed as she continued to lead Harry to her house.

"Tell me Ludwig," Tonks said, after they had been exchanging light conversation for about 15 minutes, "How are you enjoying merry old England?"

Harry considered this for a moment, "Truthfully? I really don't know. I don't really know anybody, and the ones that I do are you, Tom at the Leaky Cauldron, and my raven."

Harry thought for a moment that it was true. He really was on his own at the moment for the first time in his life. No friends, no people looking out for him, nobody. He was broken from his thoughts when he heard Tonks speaking.

"Speaking of that raven, he nearly scared my dad straight to heaven and back!" Tonks was saying, with a slight grin on her face.

"Sorry about that," Harry replied, a small grin on his face too.

"Don't worry about it; he's a muggle," Tonks explained, "Been married to mum for 17 years and still isn't used to magic."

"Some of my family members are like that," Harry replied, thinking of his aunt and uncle. 'I'm going to have to visit them,' Harry thought to himself. Harry noticed Tonks looking at him, as if asking him to explain. Harry quickly thought up of something believable to say, "My aunt and uncle live with my parents, but they aren't magical in the slightest. You could almost say they detest magic."

"Wankers," Tonks said under her breath, but loud enough for Harry to hear, which caused him to laugh.

"So, 'Dora, you have any brothers or sisters?" Harry asked Tonks, he really didn't know if Tonks had any brothers or sisters, it had never come up 'back then.' Harry chuckled when he saw Tonks get briefly angry at the shortened use of her given name.

"As a matter of fact, _Luddie_, I don't," Tonks replied with a smirk. Harry just laughed. Tonks went on, "Do you have any siblings yourself?"

"Actually, I'm a single child myself, although my cousin lives with us," Harry replied, remembering Dudley. It was just then that Harry noticed that Tonks had stopped in front of a bush.

"This is the entrance to Kingston Drive," Tonks said in a small whisper, motioning to the bush, "Only magical people and people who know that it is there can gain access to it through here. Otherwise, they just end up on the other side of the bush."

"Fascinating," Harry remarked dryly. Tonks just shook her head, before leading Harry through and up to her house. Harry took in her house; it resembled a slightly enlarged version of the Burrow, and looked infinitely more clean and better up kept. Harry could only surmise that the Tonks' were a bit better off than the Weasleys were. Tonks lead Harry right up to the door and without knocking entered the house.

"Mum! Me and Ludwig are here," Tonks shouted out, causing something to be dropped from what Harry guessed was the kitchen, before hearing what obviously was a cleaning spell.

"I'm in the kitchen Nymphadora," came a feminine voice, not to much unlike Tonks'. Tonks took off her trainers, and Harry did the same, before leading him to the kitchen. When Harry entered he noticed who had to be Tonks' dad sitting at the kitchen table while his wife was cooking on the stove.

Harry took a look at Mrs. Andromeda Tonks for the first time in his life, and noticed that she looked a lot like her sister Bellatrix – long black hair, natural beauty, dark eyes. However, the difference between the sisters was almost as striking as their similarities; while Bellatrix had what could only be described as an evil aura around her, Andromeda looked downright pleasant, almost like Mrs. Weasley.

"Welcome home Nymphadora," Mrs. Tonks said turning around while Tonks cringed at her name. Harry stood up so he presented himself with his back as straight as possible; he wanted to make a good impression. Mrs. Tonks immediately greeted him with a smile.

"Oh hi dear, you must be Ludwig," she said, motioning for Harry and her daughter to sit at the table, "Nymphadora told me about meeting you. She says you are new to the country and living at the Leaky Cauldron by yourself?"

"Yes ma'am," Harry replied, looking to Tonks' father, who was engrossed in the evening paper.

"Well, don't make yourself a stranger around here," Mrs. Tonks said, turning back to the food, "Have you met my husband, Ted? TED!"

"Yes dear?" came the questioning voice of Mr. Ted Tonks from behind the paper, completely oblivious to what was going on in the kitchen. Harry felt Tonks nudge him from the side.

"Here we go," Tonks said in a whisper Harry could barely hear, "Mum hates it when dad doesn't pay attention."

Sure enough, "TED WE HAVE VISITORS!"

"OH!" came the startled voice of Mr. Tonks, who immediately put the paper down to reveal a man that was nearing middle age, and looked nothing like his wife and daughter with blonde hair and blue eyes, though not as striking as Harry's. The man easily slipped into a smiling face that Harry was sure he had seen once before, "How do you do? I'm Ted Tonks, this crazy girl's father."

Harry laughed while he took Mr. Tonks' outstretched hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Ludwig, Ludwig Waechter."

"Nice to meet you Ludwig," Mr. Tonks replied as Mrs. Tonks set the roast beef with Yorkshire on the table. It was really good, and Harry made sure to complement Mrs. Tonks several times throughout the meal on the quality of it.

"Think nothing of it Ludwig," Mrs. Tonks said, with an almost embarrassed smile on her face.

"So Ludwig, you're from Germany?" Mr. Tonks asked.

"Yes," Harry replied, though with his accent it didn't quite sound like what he was trying to say. Mr. Tonks picked up on this.

"Don't worry, you'll get a hold of the language eventually," he said to Harry, who Tonks was silently laughing at. The whole day she had found his accent, "right charming," and just, "a bit humorous too."

"I can only hope," Harry replied, shooting Tonks a glare. After supper was over, Harry and Tonks excused themselves and Tonks brought Harry up to her room to show him some of the music that she listened to.

"Your parents are really nice," Harry commented to Tonks as he sat on her floor while she was looking through some of her records.

"They are, but mum drive me nuts by insisting on using my given name," Tonks said.

"Why do you dislike it so much?"

"I really don't know," Tonks said, inserting a record into her player and sitting down across from Harry, leaning her back up against her dresser. "I guess just because it's so different. I mean, I've been getting flak for it since I was in muggle grammar school."

"I don't think it's so strange, _Dora_" Harry replied, shortening Tonks' name once again, causing Tonks to blush slightly, "I mean, look at my name, I'm going to get some flak for sure this year at Hogwarts."

"Well if we stick together I'm sure I can help you there," Tonks said, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Danke," Harry replied, looking around her room. It was covered in Quidditch posters, and posters of various muggle groups. Harry looked at Tonks' clock, and noted that it was close to 8, and guessed he should be getting back to his room at the Leaky Cauldron; he didn't want to overstay his welcome.

Standing up he said, "Well, I think I'm going to get back to the Leaky Cauldron."

"You can take the Floo if you want," Tonks said, as Harry helped her to her feet. Harry ignored the shockwave that went through his hand as he did this. "The house is set up so you can't Floo in, but you can Floo out."

"Danke," Harry said once again, as he and Tonks went back downstairs to get his trainers and go to the fireplace.

"Thank you once again Mr. and Mrs. Tonks, dinner was excellent," Harry said as they gathered to send him off.

"Oh you're welcome Ludwig, and you're welcome here anytime," Mrs. Tonks replied as Tonks stepped up to him.

"I had a great time today, thank you," Harry said to her, causing her to once again blush. He noticed he had the ability to do this, and wondered why it was.

"Don't mention it," Tonks replied, "Hey; do you want me to meet you at the pool tomorrow morning?"

"That would be nice," Harry said, grabbing a handful of Floo Powder and throwing it into the fireplace.

"Goodnight Tonks," Harry said, stepping into the fire.

"'Night _Luddie_," Tonks replied, causing Harry to laugh slightly as he said, "_THE LEAKY CAULDRON._"

**End Chapter**


	3. Solitaire Unraveling

**Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory** by **Tradiferis**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything that you do not recognize is most likely mine, everything that you do recognize isn't mine. Onto the story._

**Chapter Five  
Solitaire Unraveling**

_"So Luddie, what is it that you do?" Hermione asked Tonks' fiancé as she, Harry, Ron, Luddie, and Tonks sat in front of a fireplace at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place after Christmas dinner over break._

_"It's an odd sort of mish mash," Luddie responded after hesitating for a few seconds, "Technically, I am an Unspeakable, but I do work as a Hit Wizard also. My job basically revolves around 'eliminating' people who are hard to get to and the Ministry doesn't want people to figure out what happened to them."_

_"So you're an assassin then?" Hermione responded with a cold voice; she had surprised many when she had become adamant in her opinion that no one deserved to die, for any reason what so ever. Many attributed this to her parents being murdered despite being under the protection of a Fidelius Charm._

_"For all intents and purposes yes," Luddie responded, while Tonks grabbed his hand, "But I always try to do it in the most humane way possible. I don't torture people, and I don't play games with their head. I just get the job done, and get whatever else I need to get."_

_This softened Hermione slightly, but she still said, "I just still don't agree with killing people."_

_Later that night, Harry was walking down to the kitchens because he couldn't sleep and was going to make some hot chocolate when he heard two people talking in the kitchen. Listening closely, he noticed that it was Luddie and Tonks. Stopping right outside of the kitchen, he started to listen in on the conversation._

_"...it's nothing, Dora honey, just some odd dream that I haven't had in many years that just popped up again tonight," Luddie was saying, "No need to get all harped up about it-"_

_"Ludwig," Tonks cut him off with a sharp whispering voice, "We have been together for more than 6 years, I think I have the right to worry about you."_

_"Sorry Dora, I was just slightly bothered by this and taking it out on you," Luddie say in a slightly placating voice, "But now I think we should stop with this discussion seeing that Mr. Potter is right outside the door."_

_Harry, stunned that Luddie knew he was outside the kitchen, chose that moment to walk in, with a sheepish smile on his face, "Sorry, I didn't want to intrude."_

_"Don't worry about it Harry, I knew you were there the entire time," Luddie said with a slight smirk on his face, "I'm not a Hit Wizard for nothing. It's in the job description."_

_They all laughed, as Harry set about on his original task of getting himself a cup of Hot Chocolate while Luddie and Tonks talked in hushed tones._

_"Tonks has been telling me you want to become an Auror when you get out of school?" Luddie asked when Harry sat down with his cup. Harry noted with an odd interest that Luddie was also drinking Hot Chocolate._

_"It's seems the logical course to go," Harry said, leaving off 'because of Voldemort and the Death Eaters.' Luddie got a sad look on his face for a moment, like he knew what Harry had tacked on in his head._

_"Ja, that does appear to be the most logical course," Luddie said with a slightly far away look in his eyes. Suddenly he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package that was wrapped without much flair, "Here Harry, I didn't give this to you when you were opening your presents earlier because I felt it would be better to give to you one and one."_

_Harry took the package from him as Tonks looked on at the exchange. Harry cautiously unwrapped the package to reveal an unmarked box. Luddie gestured for Harry to open it, which he did to reveal a very striking necklace. Lifting the chain out Harry saw that a vial filled with a green mist was attached to it. Harry gave Luddie a slightly questioning look._

_"I found this a couple weeks ago, and when talking to Dora here thought that it would be of use to you," Luddie said in a way of explanation, "It has a small protection charm on it to alert you when someone untrustworthy is nearby, however, it's main use for you will not be apparent now, but in time you will discover it. I'm afraid that is all that I can say."_

_Harry only nodded, and was about to say something back when Hermione came into the room, who walked straight over to Luddie, only giving Harry a small nod in recognition._

_"I want to say that I am sorry for my attitude earlier," Hermione said, cutting directly to the point, "This war is really messing with my view on the world and I know I have a slightly hypocritical stance, but I just want to say I'm sorry for drawing you into it, you're only doing your job, and..."_

_Hermione trailed off as Luddie held up his hand and started to speak, "Do not worry about it; it happens to the best of us."_

_Hermione nodded her head, before looking to the group as a whole and speaking, "I'm sorry I've been a bit of a snot lately, it's like I said-"_

_"It's fine Hermione," Tonks cut her off, seeing Hermione getting slightly emotional, "We understand."_

_"Of course Hermione! Remember how I was last year?" Harry said, causing Hermione to crack a small smile._

_"Thanks guys," she said, hugging herself, before saying, "I'm going to go sit outside on the veranda, to think. I just need some time alone at the moment."_

_"Of course..."_

_That was the last time anyone saw Hermione Granger alive._

_The next morning her cold, dead, lifeless body was found on the veranda with a surprised look on her face. An obvious victim of the Killing Curse, probably by someone in the Black family that knew the location of the house that was sending a warning to the Order. It was also the last time that the Order used Number Twelve Grimmauld Place as their Head Quarters..._

Harry grimaced as he awoke, almost instantly after Hermione's body had been found the whole of the house had been cleaned out and all the occupants were sent to various 'safe-houses,' except the students, who were sent straight back to Hogwarts. Sighing, he lifted himself out of bed, and started to get himself ready for the day, today was the day he was to meet Dumbledore at Hogwarts to get sorted into a house.

-

Harry relaxed into the cushions in his booth in the Leaky Cauldron. He and Tonks had agreed to have a late lunch together before Harry went off to Hogwarts to be sorted. Harry sighed as he recounted the past week and a half to himself; it had been one of the most interesting in his life.

He and Tonks were hitting it off great, and usually hung out with each other every day in some capacity. He had been over to her house a few more times, and had to say that he understood slightly were Tonks' slightly rebellious nature came from: Mrs. Tonks almost gave her a free pass to do whatever it was that she wanted, but within reason of course.

Harry looked up as he saw Tonks enter the Leaky Cauldron, with Edgar on her arm. He smiled slightly thinking about his raven. It was almost as temperamental as Hedwig had been, except that this one could actually tell him what was on its mind; including tips on how to dress and how to alter his body "to appeal to that lovely young witch friend you have."

"Wotcher Luddie," Tonks said, sliding into her seat carefully, as she was wearing a skirt and didn't want her clumsiness to cause any embarrassing situations. Harry grinned at the name that Tonks had taken to calling him; he liked the ring to it.

"Guten Tag Dora," Harry replied as Edgar jumped up onto his shoulder. Tonks flashed him a brief smile, it seemed she didn't mind when Harry called her 'Dora,' although he had noticed he was the only one that got away with it. Harry had also picked up on how Tonks liked it when he spoke in German. He continued on, giving a small piece of bread to Edgar, "How are you doing today?"

"Oh pretty good," Tonks replied, placing her order with Tom the bartender, "My dad is fascinated by Edgar." He and Tonks chuckled for a moment before she continued, "I mean, even though he technically is a wizard, he just acts like a muggle so often that you would never know."

Harry laughed at this; Mr. Tonks did remind him of Mr. Weasley, only he didn't collect plugs.

"So what time are you heading up to see the Headmaster?" Tonks asked, as her food arrived.

"Four," Harry replied, looking at his watch, "So that gives us about three hours."

"Want to go to the cinema," Tonks proposed, polishing off the sandwich that she had ordered.

"Never thought you'd ask," Harry replied, causing Tonks to laugh. Harry got out of his seat before helping Tonks get to her feet. She blushed slightly, before they both paid their bill and left to go catch a movie.

"I've been forgetting to ask," Harry commented as the pair strolled out of the theater, "What house are you in at Hog-varts?"

"It's Hog-Warts," Tonks said with a small smirk, getting a glare in return, "And I'm in Ravenclaw believe it or not."

"You are a bright one," Harry remarked back to her causing her to glare this time as he got a look of triumph on his face.

"Very funny Luddie," Tonks said as they continued to walk back to the Leaky Cauldron so that Harry could grab his port key so he could go to Hogwarts to be sorted.

'_I wonder if the sorting hat will know it's me traveling through time_,' Harry mused to himself, as the sorting hat did seem to be very intelligent, and (at least Harry suspected it to be) very strong in Occlumency to boot. Before Harry knew it he was standing in front of his door at the Leaky Cauldron.

"How long do you think you'll be at Hogwarts?" Tonks asked Harry, suddenly looking very shy as Harry leaned against the door, his key in hand.

"Shouldn't be that long, I'm only getting sorted, and from what you've told me it shouldn't be that long," Harry responded, looking into Tonks eyes.

"Perhaps if you come back early enough you would like to come over and eat with my family tonight," Tonks said, continuing to look shy, "My mother suggested it and all, but it would be great if you came over."

"I would love to," Harry responded, wondering why Tonks was acting as shy as she was.

"Great!" Tonks said, perking up a bit, "See you later tonight then Luddie!"

With that she leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away, leaving a stunned Harry in her wake, who stood there for a few moments before opening his door and getting ready to be transported to Hogwarts.

-

"Ah, Mr. Waechter," Dumbledore said as Harry appeared in the middle of his office, letter in hand, "Ready to be sorted?"

"Yes sir," Harry responded, noticing that the four heads of houses were present, most noticeably Snape who was looking like he did not want to be present at all. Dumbledore conjured up a stool for Harry to sit on before taking out the sorting hat and placing it on his head.

'_Doing a little bit of time traveling, eh Potter?_' came a slightly amused voice in his ear the minute the hat was placed on his head.

'_You could say that_,' Harry thought back to the hat, thinking once again that the hat was most defiantly versed in Occlumency.

'_Yes I am Potter, one of the greatest in history if I do say myself_,' the hat replied to his thought, '_It's one of the skills that I use when I sort students. I can tell right now that I am going to have a bit of time with you in a few years just by briefly looking through your thoughts right now_.'

Harry grimaced slightly, he still remembered his first sorting and how he almost went into Slytherin.

'_But that's then, and this is now_,' the hat went on, "_And let's see, no not Hufflepuff, you are to strong willed. Slytherin and Gryffindor are strong in you, they almost cancel out each other..._"

'_What about Ravenclaw?_' Harry suggested to the hat, remembering that Tonks was in that house and wanting to be were she was for some odd reason.

'_Yes, you do seem to be bright like Ravenclaws tend to be, not to mention you have a few 'quirks' about you that are common for most Ravenclaws_,' the Hat mused to itself for a moment, before continuing on, '_Yes, that is where you will go. A word of advice though, Potter, before you go: What you seek isn't as hidden as you think it is. Just by these few moments I have been on your head I have unlocked to myself what you seek. You have all the tools that you need at your disposal, but you have yet to learn how to use all of them. It is good then, that I am placing you in the house that I am, because what you will learn there you will not learn anywhere else. Have fun Mr. Potter, and do proud the house of _RAVENCLAW.'

The hat yelled the last word for all in the office to hear. Harry heard a mild round of applause as Dumbledore took the hat off his head just in time for him to see Snape quickly exiting Dumbledore's office. Professor's McGonagall, and Sprout offered him congratulations before they, too, took their leave of Dumbledore's office. All that now remained were Professor's Dumbledore and Flitwick, the diminutive Ravenclaw Head of House.

"Congratulations Ludwig," Dumbledore said to Harry, "Now why don't I leave you here with Professor Flitwick, the Ravenclaw Head of House, so he can tell you a bit more about your house? When you are ready to return back to the Leaky Cauldron, just tap your wand onto the parchment that allowed you to come here and say 'Return.'"

An hour later Harry was back in his room at the Leaky Cauldron. He had learnt all about the Ravenclaw house, including that Ravenclaws possessed their own personal library in their common room that was almost half the size of the Hogwarts Library (excluding the Restricted Section). He had learned that he was to be sharing the sixth year dorm with five other students, who Flitwick said he would personally introduce Harry to when September 1st came. He had also learned that it was a Ravenclaw tradition for after all the students returned to the common room for the Head of House to give a short speech introducing the existing students to the new ones, and expectations for the year.

Looking at the clock on the wall he noticed that he had returned in time in order to join the Tonks' for dinner. He just had to alert them that he was coming over, but he couldn't remember the Floo call name for their house.

"Edgar, what's the name for Tonks' house on the Floo?" Harry asked the raven, which was currently perched next to Harry's bed reading a book on potions that Harry had left out.

"Tonks' Residence," Edgar crowed out, sounding slightly annoyed, without looking up from the book.

"Thanks," Harry replied as he walked over to the fireplace that was in the room, grabbing some Floo powder off of the mantel, and throwing it into the fire.

-

"This chicken is delicious Mrs. Tonks," Harry commented after he had started eating. He had arrived just in time for dinner, much to the delight of Tonks', who still had Harry wondering why she had kissed him earlier in the day. In fact, she was still acting shy towards him.

"Oh thank you dear," Mrs. Tonks replied to Harry.

"What house did you get into Luddie?" Tonks asked Harry, speaking to him in a full sentence for the first time that night.

"Ravenclaw," Harry replied with a slight smirk, as Tonks' eyebrows reached their hilt.

"A fine a house as any," Mrs. Tonks said thoughtfully, "I know I was in there, and so is Nymphadora, and Professor Flitwick is a fine fellow. I should know based on all the times I've talked to him due to your antics dear."

Tonks blushed slightly at the comment her mother had directed towards her.

After dinner was over, Tonks was escorting Harry back to the fireplace so he could return to the Leaky Cauldron.

"I'm going to be visiting some of my father's relatives for the rest of the holidays, so I won't see you again till the first of September," Tonks said, sounding slightly sad, "Speaking of, how are you getting to the Kings Cross?"

"Catching a cab," Harry replied, grabbing a handful of the dust-like substance known as Floo Powder.

"Well, want to meet at Platform 9 and 3/4?"

"Sure, I'll meet you there a half hour before the train sets off," Harry said, with a smile on his face. Hearing this, Tonks smiled too.

"Great, you'll be able to meet some of my other friends," Tonks said.

"See you on the first," Harry said, throwing the powder into the fire. Suddenly Tonks kissed him on the cheek again, causing Harry to gape slightly.

"See you Luddie."

-

Harry woke up the next morning to Edgar impatiently pecking him and cawing at him.

"What do you want?" Harry asked the bird, face still down on his pillow.

"Message for you," the raven cawed, sounding slightly exasperated. Harry slowly got up to see there was a regal looking owl sitting quietly next to his bed. Taking the note off of the owl, which immediately took off, Harry leaned back down onto the bed in order to relax while he read the letter. Opening it up, he found out that it was from Patrick, the Unspeakable from the Ministry.

_Dear Mr. Waechter-_

_How are things going for you? Settling in nicely? I have some things that I need to discuss with you concerning your prospective career. If you could meet me in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic at noon today, we can have some lunch before going over what needs to be done. If you can't make it (for whatever reason), just send me a return owl. Otherwise, I will be waiting for you._

_Hoping to see you then,  
P. O'Shannon  
Dept. of Mysteries_

'That's interesting,' Harry thought to himself. Looking at the clock he saw that he had a little less than three hours to get ready and be at the Ministry of Magic. Speaking, he looked over at Edgar, "Want to help me get ready for the day? I have to go to a meeting at the Ministry."

"Gladly."

-

"How are you settling into this time?" Patrick asked Harry as they sat at a table in the Department of Mysteries.  
  
"I am doing pretty well, I have met one person in particular who has been really helpful," Harry replied, thinking of Tonks, who at the moment he was missing more than anything else in the world.  
  
"That's always good," Patrick replied, finishing up his cup of tea "Now listen, and I know you're going to be having it kind of rough this year, so I feel compelled to offer this to you. If you ever need any advice on anything, ANYTHING at all, just owl me. I won't mind it at all; I need something to distract me every now and then."  
  
"Thank you," Harry said, shyly.  
  
"Now, for why you are here," Patrick continued on, standing up and motioning for Harry to follow him, "Every person that wishes to become an Unspeakable, and states that they would for the record, has to undergo a battery of tests to place them were they are the most likely to succeed. I, for example, am a field officer."  
  
"Do you normally take these tests before your sixth year?" Harry questioned.  
  
"No," said Patrick, grinning, "But seeing you technically have already been through your sixth year, we can make an exception."  
  
By this point they had come upon a door marked TESTING AREA. Here, Patrick's grin only got bigger.  
  
"Now, I will only send you into this room when you are certain you are ready, because the test starts almost immediately," Patrick explained, "I can't really tell you what to do, but you should know what to do, it is pretty much common sense. Wand ready? Oh, and remember, don't trust everything that you read."  
  
With that, Patrick opened the door and Harry walked into a dark room. A couple of seconds later the lights flickered on and Harry almost fainted dead away at what he saw.  
  
Standing in front of him was a Hungarian Horntail.

Almost instantaneously, Harry's instincts took over as he dived out of the way to what was an almost immediate roar of fire from the dragon. Hiding behind a rock that was in the room, Harry saw some words that were over a door in the back of the room:

_To Proceed Knock Out the Dragon_

"Great, just bloody great," Harry said under his breath, as a stream of fire came over his head. Rolling out from behind the rock he threw three Stunning Spells in quick succession at the dragon, not to knock it out, but to hopefully distract it in order to buy himself more time to hide behind another rock. His plan was successful, as he was able to get behind another slab of rock, and quickly formulated a plan in his head, as the Horntail wasn't distracted for long.

Jumping out from behind the rock, he quickly muttered an incantation that had the same effect as a 1000 suns shining brightly in the room. This allowed Harry just enough time to get up closer to the dragon, and hit it with the most powerful Stunning Spell he could manage in its face, its weak spot. Seeing that the dragon was only partially stunned, Harry quickly let loose on another powerful Stunner, which took care of the dragon.

As soon as the dragon slumped against the floor, Harry saw the door in the back of the room open. Catching his breath for a second, Harry entered the next room, and found himself bathed in light. Looking across the room, Harry saw another set of words floating in the air:

_Walk Across The Room In Order To Proceed_

'Simple enough,' he thought to himself, until he took a single step and quickly found his leg in quicksand. Muttering a quick spell to disengage his leg from the sand and pulling his leg out, Harry noticed that the whole floor seemed to be shifting. It was all quicksand, except for a small patch on the other side of the room. Just as he saw this a swarm of vulture-like creatures came flying out of no where. Thinking as quickly as he could, as the creatures started to try to attack him causing him to have to use quick successions of stunning spells, he cast the same spell he had cast with the dragon causing the light to expand beyond all comprehension.

Crying out "REDUCTO!" to clear a path in front of him, he quickly followed that with "ACCIO SOLID LAND!"

Immediately, Harry felt himself being pulled across the room. He remembered reading at one time that if the object you were trying to summon was immensely stronger than yourself, you would be pulled towards the object, much like what happened when two people were tugging on a rope, and the stronger of the two would always pull the weaker. In seconds, Harry was on the other side of the room. Scoffing at the sign, which Harry suspected to be what Patrick had meant by not to trust everything that you read as he put his hands on his knees to rest for a second.

Casting one last look over his shoulder, he walked through the door to continue the "test"...

About an hour later he walked out of a room in which he had just had to solve a puzzle that required him to use every bit of logic he had, while trying to ward off creatures flying around his head. Over the course of the past hour he had been through many physical and mental tests, forcing him to use all of his abilities to the maximum that he could, including his Metamorphmagus and Parseltongue ones. Exhausted, Harry walked through the door to see a slightly smirking Patrick and another Unspeakable Harry recognized as Bode from the Quidditch World Cup.

"Mr. Waechter I would like to introduce Agent Bode to you, he helped me observe your testing," Patrick said to Harry, introducing the man, who only nodded his head before Patrick continued talking, "I have to say Ludwig, you did an amazing job. In fact, you did better than most candidates who come through our door. Bode here told me you did better than any candidate in the past 20 years. We were able to deduce that no matter where we put you, you would thrive, although, we did narrow down a few possibilities for where you would be best suited."

Patrick stopped for a second, grabbing a chart and a folder off of a table. Looking over them really quickly, he handed them to Harry, before saying, "We feel that you would be best suited to be a Hit Wizard for the Department of Mysteries, taking into account your incredible accuracy with a wand, your ability to think on your feet, and your Metamorphmagus abilities."

"Wicked," Harry said, sounding slightly out of breath, not processing all the details in his head.

"All the details about the Hit Wizards of the Department of Mysteries, which are a bit different than those in the Magical Law Enforcement Department, can be found in that folder, which has been charmed for only you to be able to read," Patrick went on, "I will also be contacting Hogwarts to send regular reports over here about how you are doing so we can keep track of how you are doing.

"Also, we finished creating your new identity for you. Your past, as long as former school records, family history, everything like that is included in the folder for you. If you have any question, once again, owl me. Well, that's it for today Ludwig."

Harry only shook his head in acknowledgement, still slightly out of breath as Patrick walked him out a door that found the pair back in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic.

"I'll be contacting you later, and remember, if you need anything, just send me an owl," Patrick said, shaking Harry's hand.

"Thank you once again," Harry said, as Patrick turned around and walked back to the Department of Mysteries.

Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts, before walking back towards an exit that led to Diagon Alley. He was going to be starting Hogwarts, and he was excited as ever over that. He also couldn't wait to read the information that Patrick had given him on the Hit Wizard Unspeakables.

Suddenly something clicked in Harry's mind, like two pieces of a puzzle being put together. A feeling of deja vu flashed through his head of a slightly over 6 foot tall wizard with blonde hair, German accent, and who was a Hit Wizard Unspeakable. Almost as quickly as the feeling passed through him, it wasn't there anymore, and he couldn't remember what he was just thinking. Making a note to himself, Harry decided that he would have his first sit down with the Pensieve Dumbledore gave him later that night. But first, he needed to get back to the Leaky Cauldron.

As he was walking he started to read the 'history' of the Waechter 'family' which 'resided' in a manor in Northern Germany and was a pure blooded family that tended to keep to themselves...

**End Chapter**


	4. Grown Twice Inside

**Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory** by **Tradiferis**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything that you do not recognize is most likely mine, everything that you do recognize isn't mine. Onto the story._

**Chapter Six  
Grown Twice Inside**

_"Remember, keep your head low and your hood up until we get seated inside the restaurant," Luddie said to Harry, as they walked out of the safe house they were staying, somewhere in the United States in the equivalent to Hogsmeade._

_"Any particular reason?" Harry asked as he pulled the hood of his black robes up._

_"One, because it gives us a 'don't mess with these people' look," Luddie said as he waved his hand over the doorknob, sealing it so no one would be able to get in, "And two, because it would be too much of a strain to change our appearances for the amount of time that is needed."_

_"You know, I am a Metamorphmagus," Harry said in a slightly cold, matter of fact tone. Luddie shot him a look from under his own green robes._

_"Yes, Nymphie has told me a few times that you are quite accomplished, but," Luddie said, as they reached the outskirts of the town, "You are not experienced enough to be able to hold a form for long amounts of time. We shall practice that though during the next couple days. Now, no talking until we've reached the restaurant."_

_Harry sighed as he followed the Unspeakable through the town. It was Easter holiday, and Dumbledore thought that it would do Harry some good to get out of Hogwarts castle. Harry frankly didn't care either way. On the one hand, he wanted to get out of a place that greatly reminded him of Hermione, but on the other hand, he would prefer to be as alone as he could be. The castle this year was going to be pretty desolate with most of the students going home to see their families, as it could be the last time they were ever seen. Even Ron was spending the holiday with his family; Harry opting to let Ron spend the time with his family without him._

_The Order of the Phoenix was getting desperate, for no matter what they did, it seemed as if Voldemort was always one step ahead of them. They were beginning to consider the possibility that there was a spy in their ranks, but Dumbledore believed that Voldemort was only staying ahead of them based on luck, and that eventually that luck would turn the Order's way._

_Harry was jolted out of his thoughts by running into Luddie, who had stopped in front of him._

_"We're here," Luddie said with a slight smile on his face, before he opened the door and led Harry inside, while pulling off his hood. Harry noted that for some odd reason Luddie kept on staring at his own arm. It appeared as if Luddie was a frequent visitor as the waiter led the pair into an out of the way booth that could not be seen by anyone else in the establishment, but which could see every other table._

_As the pair sat down, a second waiter arrived with two plates, setting them in front of them, before wishing the two a "pleasant meal" and to "alert us if you need anything."_

_Looking down at his plate Harry saw that it was filled with one of his favorite meals. "How?" he voiced out loud, looking at Luddie who was in the middle of biting into a strange type of sausage._

_"The plate senses what you would enjoy eating the most at that particular moment and then conjures it up," Luddie replied between bites, "Although I have to remember to never think of bratwurst again while I'm here..."_

_Harry stared down at his plates, before shrugging his shoulders and starting to eat. He was halfway through his meal when he noticed a cloaked person approaching the booth._

_"Er...Luddie?" Harry said, pointing towards the person approaching._

_"Oh good! He finally gets here," Luddie said, standing up to greet the person who dropped their hood to reveal Remus Lupin, "Remus! How are you doing?"_

_"I've been worse," Remus replied, sitting down as a waiter put a plate in front of him that instantly filled up with various meats, "How are you doing Harry?"_

_"He's been an angst-y teenager," Luddie said with a small amount of mirth in his voice while Harry sent him a glare._

_"I'm doing just fine Remus," Harry said in what he thought was a dangerous voice, but it only caused Luddie to laugh, "What are you doing here?"_

_"I have something for Mr. Waechter from Professor Dumbledore and thought I would at least stop for lunch when it was on his tab," Remus said with a small smile._

_"Freeloader," Luddie mumbled under his breath. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, until the trio made to leave._

_"Are you going to tip Ludwig?" Remus asked when Luddie didn't. Luddie only raised his eyebrow at Remus. Remus continued, "They do tip from where it is you're from, don't they?"_

_"They don't from where you come from," Luddie shot back, smirking. However, Remus had apparently thought of this._

_"This is a high class place, you always tip posh places," he retorted, "Now please, enlighten me, do they tip where you come from?"_

_"Yes Lupin, they do," Luddie said with a small amount of chagrin, "But I just don't believe in tipping someone just for doing their job. You don't see me going around demanding tips now do you?"_

_"No one knows WHAT you do," Remus commented, as Harry silently agreed that Luddie had a point, "Besides, most of these people get by on their tips. Can't you at least give them something?"_

_"Hey, I've gone for many years doing what I do without a note of thanks from any person," Luddie remarked, and Harry could have sworn that he threw a quick glance in his direction._

_"Would it kill you to just leave the poor person a note or two?" Remus asked as he put on they put on their cloaks._

_"It just might," Luddie remarked with a small smirk._

_"Will you two just shut up," Harry said as he tossed a couple of sickles onto the table, and walked away._

_Later that night, Harry and Luddie were sitting at the kitchen table in the safe house. Harry was doing his holiday work, while Luddie was going over some documents that Remus had given him._

_"Uh, Harry?" came the tentative voice of Luddie. Harry looked up, slightly perturbed that he was being disturbed. He didn't know why, he just didn't want to be here now. He wanted to be...he didn't know..._

_"HARRY."_

_"WHAT?!" Harry answered back, startled out of his thoughts._

_"You could at least look like you wanted to be here," came Luddie's amused voice._

_"Well I don't want to be here," Harry answered back hotly._

_"Do you even KNOW where you want to be?" Luddie asked with an air of innocence. Harry just stared back open-mouthed at the man, wondering if he could read his thoughts. He checked his mental shields, and they still were holding strong-_

_"I know how you feel Harry," Luddie said, cutting off Harry's thoughts, "You just need to try to make the best of your situation."_

_Harry was about to retort to how that the only way Luddie would know how he felt would be if he was inside his head when Luddie pulled something out of his shirt pocket and said, "Cigar? I know you like smoking, and I figure that you might as well try the good stuff."_

_This shut Harry up immediately and within seconds he had taken the cigar, cut it, and had lit it with the help of Luddie. Immediately he felt himself become relaxed...almost too relaxed._

_"These are just regular cigars, right?" Harry asked as he started to feel himself space out and it was at this exact moment that he noticed that Luddie wasn't smoking a cigar. In fact, he was standing over him._

_"Oh, regular cigars laced with veritaserum-like substance," Luddie replied as Harry felt himself lose almost all control over his body, and more importantly his mental shields. The last thing Harry saw before the world around him turned upside down was his cigar hitting the floor with a dull 'thud.'_

_"Harry, how do you feel?" Luddie asked with a calm voice, holding his chin and looking directly into his eyes.._

_Harry tried to stop himself, but he couldn't prevent himself from saying it, "I feel horrible! I miss Sirius. I miss Hermione. I miss being able to at least pretend I didn't have a care in the world! I am sick and tired of everything! HAPPY?! Are you happy that I can't stand who I am because of what I have to do? Are you happy that I have little hope of ever defeating Voldemort? ARE YOU HAPPY?! Because I can tell you that I for one am pretty effing not! WHY ARE YOU JUST SMIRKING?! You all are just the same! You just think with a 'can do' attitude that Voldemort will be destroyed! It's not helping! I AM BLOODY MISERABLE IN MY LIFE. ARE YOU HAPPY, YOU STUCK UP PRAT?!"_

_Harry looked at Luddie seething. Luddie just gave Harry a knowing smile, saying, "Do we feel better now?"_

_Harry was about to retort that he didn't, but he stopped, as he DID feel better. Like a gigantic weight had been lifted off of his chest; like a person who had just been rescued from drowning and was taking a breath for the first time after many minutes._

_"I-I...I do feel better," Harry responded, his mind seeming less cloudy, and his mental shields picking back up._

_"Admitting you have a problem is the first step to fixing it," Luddie said as he put the pack of cigars into a cloak pocket, "Now, let's start working on fixing it..._

Harry walked through King's Cross station slowly pushing his cart, while taking a drag on the cigarette that he had in his mouth. It was really a disgusting habit that he had picked up after Sirius had died, and had been reinforced when Hermione had died.

_"You know, Harry," _he remembered Hermione telling him when she found him smoking near the lake on the Hogwarts grounds, _"The only thing you're going to do is just kill yourself faster."_

He also remembered his response to Hermione, which he still regretted to this day, _"Hermione, can you stop rabbitting at me for once and just let me deal with things how I want to? Just because you read something in a book doesn't mean its effing true! I'm sick and tired of people trying to decide how I must feel! Why don't you lot go and shove off every once and a while?"_

Harry grimaced as he remembered Hermione's tear stained face, and also the fact that later in the day, she had found out her parents had died. Harry sighed as he put the fag out and flicked it into a trash bin. Looking at his watch, he saw that he was about 10 minutes late for when he said he was going to meet Tonks.

'Effing cabbies,' he thought, remembering the talkative driver he had. It wasn't enough that he had to stop the cab and try to think where Harry's accent came from; he also grilled Harry on the need of a raven. Shaking his head, he quickly looked around to make sure that there wasn't any muggles watching him, before pushing his cart through the barrier for Platform 9 ¾.

Entering the platform, he started looking through the throng of people trying to spot Tonks, and did after a quick search. Walking over to the only witch he knew that liked to sport Ravenclaw's colors for her hair colour, he saw that she was talking to a couple other witches.

"Guten Tag," Harry said, startling Tonks, who jumped up in the air before turning around with a big grin on her face.

"Luddie!" Tonks exclaimed, before giving him a quick hug, and then gesturing to the other witches around her, "Luddie, these are some of my friends. You lot, this is the guy I told you about-"

"Ludwig Waechter, pleased to meet you," Harry interrupted in the most charming voice he could use, causing Tonks to laugh slightly. He also noticed that Tonks had quietly slipped her hand into his, but declined to say anything.

"Emily Stillmoore," said a tall witch with brown hair.

"Helen Smith," said a short witch, also with brown hair.

"Fey Murphy," said a red haired witch with an Irish accent. Harry gave each of them a nod before turning to Tonks.

"Where should I put my trunk?" he asked, gesturing behind him.

"Oh! We were just waiting for you before finding a spot on the train," Tonks said, dropping Harry's hand and starting to gather her belongings, while everyone else did the same, with their parents who had just arrived to help their daughters. Harry, on an impulse seeing that Mr. or Mrs. Tonks weren't present, put Tonks' trunk on top of his own so he would carry both.

"Don't worry about it, I'm a big boy," Harry said with a small wink, causing Tonks to laugh a little. He didn't want Tonks' natural clumsiness to cause her to injure herself carrying the trunk, and hoping that his own didn't kick in. Tonks grabbed Harry's empty bird cage (which was empty because Edgar was currently sitting on Harry's shoulder), and started leading him to a compartment on the train.

"Where's your mum?" Harry asked as Tonks led him through the train.

"Oh, Dad was sick this morning so she didn't want to leave him alone for long, so she just dropped me off here," Tonks said, turning her head briefly before running into someone. Harry, seeing Fey off to the side, quickly put the two trunks down in the compartment, before turning to help Tonks up. He needn't had, seeing she was already on her feet, and staring down a boy that was the same height as she was with black hair and a sneer on his face.

"Ewan," Tonks said with a cold tone in her voice.

"Nymphadora," Ewan ground out, before turning around and walking in the opposite direction.

"Who was that?" Harry asked when everyone was settled in the compartment, with Tonks having a look on her face that would turn most to stone.

"Ewan McConolougue, Slytherin prefect, and world-class prick," Tonks said, looking out the window.

"Also known as this dear girl's ex-boyfriend," Helen supplied, while Tonks gave her an incensed look. Harry merely raised his eyebrow before commenting.

"I take it there was a...how do you say it? 'A bad split'?"

Tonks snorted, while Helen rolled her eyes and explained for her, "Tonks caught Ewan cheating on her, and proceeded to give the prat a 'kick-start' so to speak-"

"She kicked the tosser in the bullocks," Fey interrupted, causing Harry to laugh, before being quickly silenced by a glare from Tonks.

"So, yes, an unbelievably bad breakup Ludwig, happy?" Tonks half-snarled at Harry, who held up his hands in protest.

"Hey, I was just asking, and I was curious, seeing what happened in the hallway-"

"And curiosity killed the cat, don't you know?" Tonks shot back, very sarcastically. Harry decided to let the subject drop, and Tonks was silent for most of the train ride, stewing in the corner of the compartment while Harry talked to Emily, Helen, and Fey about mostly 'safe' topics such as school, 'tips' for the teachers, and the general news of the day. This also served to help Harry further immerse himself in the time period so he would not reveal himself as being too out of place.

He also thought to himself how Tonks seemed pretty disturbed about meeting the boy, and how she had taken so readily to him? Was she just using him to help get herself over that 'Slytherin tosser' as Fey referred to him as? He would have to ask her later about that...

As everyone was getting off the train, and Harry was making sure he had everything in his trunk before he walked off the train, he felt a hand tentatively touch his back and a soft whispered, "Luddie?"

Immediately knowing that it was Tonks that was behind him, he spun around, "Yes Dora?"

"Sorry for the way I acted, that pest just brought up a slew of bad memories," Tonks said, looking down at her feet, before looking up at Harry's face. Harry looked back at her for a second, and then let a smile break out on his face.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, putting his arm around Tonks' shoulders and leading her off the train and towards the Thestral-drawn carriages. Harry noted that Tonks leaned into his embrace while they walked, and all thoughts of asking Tonks about if she was using him were tossed out the window.

He also noticed that a few stares were sent his way, quite possibly due to the fact that he was an "exchange student." He had read one time while idly turning the pages of Hogwarts: a History that exchange students that weren't part of only a temporary exchange (like the Tri-Wizard Tournament) and intended to finish their education at Hogwarts were a rare occurrence due the highly competitive natures of the magical schools the world over.

Harry looked up at the school, and one thought went through his head, 'Here we go again...'

-

"...I would also like to introduce to you, Ludwig Waechter, who comes to us from a private German school to finish up his education," came the voice of Professor Flitwick, who was giving the Ravenclaws his own 'Welcome' speech. Harry stood up to be recognized as Flitwick continued on, "Ludwig, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself so we can get to know you better?"

Harry looked over the crowd as he stood before his new house. He had no doubt that he would be judged greatly by this speech and could feel the back of his neck becoming red. He stumbled over a start before his eye was caught by Tonks' smiling face. Getting a grin on his own face, he righted himself mentally, and begun his introduction.

"Well, you know my name, so why don't I just skip over that?" Harry said, causing a few people to chuckle before he continued on, "I guess you could say I do fairly well in school, seeing that I did pretty decent on the OWLs. Er...I suppose my favorite subject is Defense Against the Dark Arts and I hope to one day become an Auror."

"What sort of hobbies do you have mate?" asked an Irish sixth year by the name of Riley Duggan, who Harry was sharing a dorm with.

"Well, I do enjoy Quidditch, both watching and playing, and I like to exercise," Harry responded, before adding on, "I also like to read spell books and learn new spells."

The rest of the night went on like this, with the crowd dispersing after most of the pertinent questions were asked of Harry and mainly those in the sixth and seventh years staying to talk with him. Near midnight, the whole group of students agreed it was high time to go to bed to be ready for the first day of classes. After saying goodnight to Tonks, who had sat next to him after they had moved to the couches of the common room, he followed his new dorm mates up to his dorm room.

As he tried to clear his mind before falling asleep he noticed that he couldn't get one thing out of his head. It appeared as if Nymphadora Tonks had taken a firm hold in his mind and was not letting go...

-

School, over the next month, progressed much like it had when Harry was back in 'his time,' except there wasn't the constant threat of a dark lord looming over him and the school. He was even able to receive some of the top marks of his year seeing that he already had taken most of the sixth year curriculum. In fact, Harry would say the first month of the year was slightly dull if anything. The only trouble he ever got in was when the occasional teacher caught him smoking atop one of the towers, but even then, they didn't make a big deal about it. He was the legal age after all, and he was hardly disrupting anybody else.

'I guess this is how school is supposed to go,' Harry mused to himself one day during a break in classes when he was in the library researching a topic for a potions essay. Even potions, usually Harry's most hated subject, was different. This was most likely due to the fact Snape did not know who Harry was in all actuality, and that he wasn't a Gryffindor.

Even his first Hogsmeade visit wasn't hectic, although it was slightly nerve-racking. He had accompanied Tonks, but it wasn't an 'official date;' they more or less just hung out with each other exclusively. It was becoming sort of a sore point to Harry, as he himself didn't know what he felt for Tonks, but the more he waited and the more he didn't say anything about his feelings to Tonks, the greater they became.

About a week before the Christmas holiday, Harry received a letter from a regal-looking owl at breakfast. Opening it up, he noticed that it was from Patrick, the Unspeakable that had helped get him settled in this time.

_Ludwig-  
Happy holidays to you. We here in the Department of Mysteries (oh, don't worry about others seeing this, it's charmed so that only you can read it...on second thought burn this as soon as you get a chance) would like to inform you that you are doing extremely well in school, and if you continue like you are, we will have no issues with admitting you into full Unspeakable training._

_Secondly, knowing that you do not have a family to speak of, I would like to invite you spend the upcoming holiday with myself, wife, and daughters. Do not think of yourself as putting a burden upon my family as my wife is anxious to meet you after I told her about you and how I am your 'mentor' so to speak for the Unspeakable program._

_Let me know by return owl if you would like to come. If so, I will meet you at Platform 9 3/4 when the Hogwarts Express drops you off._

_- P. O'Shannon, Unspeakable 3rd class_

Smiling, Harry quickly wrote a reply, before heading up to the owlery to send the note back with Edgar. Walking back from the tower, he quickly made it to his first class, which was NEWT Transfiguration, making it to class just in time.

Sliding into his seat next to Tonks, he saw her looking at him oddly.

"What?" Harry asked, with a small smirk.

"You're looking awfully bubbly this morning," Tonks remarked, the pair of them whispering so McGonagall couldn't hear them. Harry paused for a second considering how he should answer her question.

"I'm spending the holiday with my family," he answered back, with a big grin on his face.

One week later found Harry and Tonks sitting together on the Hogwarts Express, surprisingly the only two out of the group of their friends that were going home that Christmas holiday.

"Did you get all of your presents?" Tonks asked, leaning against Harry's shoulder as he read the latest issue of _Dueling Weekly._

"Of course," Harry responded, thinking to the present that he had bought for Tonks that was residing in his trunk.

"Even one for Adrian?" Tonks asked, looking at Harry with a slight smirk. Harry scowled in response. Adrian Dickinson was one of the most annoying people he ever had the displeasure of meeting. A real stickler for the rules, he reminded Harry of what Percy Weasley, who Harry actually had met a couple weeks into the school year in the library, had become.

"Mind if I smoke?" Harry asked after a few minutes, pulling a cigar out of his pocket.

"Being from a pure-blooded family you sure do have a lot of muggle tendencies," Tonks remarked, motioning for him to go ahead as he shrugged his shoulders.

"My family is not the Malfoys 'Dora," Harry remarked, casting a spell on the brown stick to prevent the smoke from stinking up the compartment.

"Oh before I forget," Tonks said, still laying on Harry's shoulder, "Would you like to come over for dinner on Boxing Day? Mum said you could bring your family if you wanted."

"That'd be great, I'll be there at least," Harry said, thinking that Patrick and his family probably wouldn't want to come.

"Wicked," Tonks said, closing her eyes to take a nap until the train arrived at the station.

-

After bidding Tonks goodbye until Boxing Day, Harry started to look around for Patrick. After a few moments he noticed him lurking in the shadows by the exit to the platform. Putting his trunk on the trolley he walked over to him.

"Merry Christmas," Patrick said with a small smile, pulling his bowler over his eye, reminding Harry of Mad-Eye Moody, "Who was the young girl you were with?"

"Nymphadora Tonks," Harry replied as Patrick led him off the platform and towards the parking lot.

"You've been doing really well in school," Patrick commented as he led Harry out of the station to a green car that blended into its surroundings really well.

"Well this is technically the second time I've taken the classes," Harry replied as he helped Patrick lift his trunk into the boot of the car.

"Even so," Patrick said as he walked around to the driver's side door, "You are in the top three of your class in every subject. That should carry over to next year as well seeing you'll have such an understanding of the basics in every subject."

After a few moments of driving Patrick pulled the car into a side street, before hitting a button on the dashboard. Instantly, the car had appeared in front of a modest, though slightly upscale, wizarding house.

"Welcome to the O'Shannon family home," Patrick said as three figures appeared in the door.

"Patrick is that you?" came the voice of a woman, while two smaller figures ran at Patrick.

"Daddy!" they both shouted, jumping into Patrick's arms.

"Ludwig, these are my two daughters," Patrick said with a smile, setting the kids down.

"I'm Gwen!" said the one with red hair.

"I'm Stacy!" said the other one, a blonde.

"They're both 6," Patrick said, as a woman, obviously his wife approached, "and this is my wife Helen."

"I'm Ludwig," Harry said, holding out his hand to Helen.

"It's nice to meet you, Patrick has told me a lot about you," Helen said, before, "Oh no! I forgot to get the ham at the store! I'll be back in a minute then!"

With that, Helen Apparated away, presumably to the store.

"Why don't you come on in and I'll show you to your room?" Patrick said a moment after his wife left.

"That'd be nice," Harry replied, taking his trunk out of the car.

"Gwendolyn! Stacy! Come help me show Ludwig to his room!" Patrick called after his daughters, leading the troupe into the house.

The first part of the holiday passed rather quietly. Harry spent most of the days either finishing his school work, playing with Gwen and Stacy, or helping Helen around the house while Patrick was at work. Gwen and Stacy really liked him, and were always trying to get him to play with them. At night, when Patrick got home, he talked about the Unspeakable profession with him, and played chess with him.

On Christmas, he got presents from the Tonks' (a black cloak sewn by Mrs. Tonks herself), one from Tonks (a pair of really nice gloves to go along with the cloak that he remembered one time admiring during a Hogsmeade weekend), and an assortment of various wizarding candies and a book on apparition techniques from Patrick and his family. He looked at the wrapped package that was sitting on his trunk that held Tonks' present. He had planned on giving it to her the next day when he went to her house for dinner, and had sent her a note that said that.

When he gave her the present he also planned on telling her what he felt for her. With the time that he had to himself over the past few days, he had come to fully realize what he felt for the young woman. He had really fallen for her over the months he had been in this time, and he felt like he lost himself every time he talked to her. The only problem he was having was he was wondering when Tonks' future fiancé was going to make an appearance. Hadn't Tonks said that they had been together since their sixth year?

'I'll just have to worry about that later,' Harry thought to himself.

He spent most of Christmas day with Patrick and his family, and even played with the girls a little bit. He was quickly becoming like an older brother to them, and he found he generally enjoyed himself with Patrick's family as a whole. Although he did keep himself occupied the entire day, his mind was almost always on Tonks when it wasn't on anything else. He could not help but feel anxious for the next day to roll around.

When he woke up on Boxing Day he saw Edgar on the bedside table picking at something with his beak.

"Wha' are you doin' Edgar?" Harry said, still very tired.

"Something is off with your necklace," Edgar responded, still picking at the necklace.

Confused, Harry sat up more and reined in his focus, "What do you mean 'something is off'?"

"It's been glowing on and off for the last half hour," Edgar responded, picking the necklace up and flinging it at Harry. It landed in his lap, and Harry noticed that it was pulsing red. Grabbing his wand from the bedside table, he held the necklace up in one hand and then prodded it with his wand. When it pulled away, the pulsing had stopped, and Harry could also see that something was now attached to the end of his wand. Something that looked very familiar.

Bringing it closer to his face as he turned the lights on in the room, he noticed that it was a thin white thread, and recognition instantly dawned on him. It was a _memory for use in pensieve._ Harry quickly went over to his trunk where he pulled out the pensieve he barely ever thought of using, and deposited the memory. Looking at Edgar one last time, he took a deep breath and dropped into the bowl.

Looking around, Harry saw that he was in a very plain room. The walls were all a deep blue, and the carpeted floor was the same blue color. Harry then noticed a chair, and saw that someone was sitting at it.

Luddie was sitting at it.

"Welcome Harry," Luddie said, paused for a second, and then continued, "I suppose you're wondering how that memory suddenly appeared in that necklace I gave you?"

Harry felt himself nod, even though he knew that the vision he was seeing was only a memory, and Luddie couldn't react to it.

"Well, it's quite simple. I put it in that necklace before I gave it to you, and it's been in there the entire time," Luddie continued, "I just charmed the necklace to activate on this exact date of December the 26th, nineteen eighty eight."

Harry felt his jaw start to fall open. This experience had started to cross into the bizarre.

"Oh, why did I pick today's date? Sorry can't say," Luddie went on, standing up, and starting to pace in front of Harry and the chair, "But there is much, much more I can tell you. So please, take a seat."

Luddie waved a hand and a chair appeared behind Harry, who was too shocked for it to even register that _a memory was interacting with him _and took a seat.

"Where to begin?" Luddie said, looking up as he continued to pace back and forth, "Harry, I know for a fact, right now, that tonight you're going to Nymphadora Tonks' house. You also plan on confessing your love for her. Well, that's a good thing, you wouldn't want the timeline messed up would you? Oh, yes, I know about the timeline. I know all about the timeline. I know about your missing memories, and how you drive yourself crazy everyday hoping you won't screw the timeline up and make the world implode. How do I know all this you're wondering?"

Harry nodded his again, just staring at Luddie in shock.

"It's quite simple really," Luddie said, stopping and looking straight at Harry, "I am you. Here, let me clear something up for you."

Harry looked mystified as the memory-Luddie held his wand up to Harry's forehead. Suddenly, Harry felt a rush of understanding dawn upon him. His name. What he looked like. It was all forming perfectly in his mind...He looked back up at Luddie-no, HIMSELF- and saw that Luddie had a smile on his face.

"Yes, I am what you become," Luddie said, taking a seat in his chair, "That's how I knew everything about you, could sense your every move. It's because I myself had done them. I still can't tell you WHY we were sent back into the past because I still do not truthfully know. All I know is that you need to know now not to worry about messing with the timeline. You'll know what to do. Just like this little experience. You learn how to make it in a few years, so make sure that you do."

Luddie looked at his watch for a second, before looking back up at Harry, "It's amazing how fast time seems to move in these surreal experiences, but in about 20 seconds Gwen is going to come looking for where her 'brother' is, and she shouldn't find you in that damn bowl. Just remember something Harry. Always keep you're loved ones close. You have no idea how much they mean to us."

With that, the memory faded, and Harry found himself once again standing in front of the veil. Seconds later, a knock came from his door. Turning around he saw that it was indeed Gwen.

"Wake up sleepy!" Gwen shouted, running at Harry, who caught her. He laughed as he set her down, and followed her out of the room, with thoughts of the 'conversation with himself' and the night going through his head.

-

Later that night Harry found himself on the front porch of Tonks' house, looking into the street.

"How do you like your gloves?" Tonks asked, leaning against Harry from warmth, even though the pair of them were surrounded by a blanket that covered both of them.

"They're grand," Harry replied, before turning to face her, "Want your present now?"

"Oh, you got a present for little ole me?" Tonks said with the most childish voice she could. Harry laughed and just clapped his hand, causing the present to appear in Tonks' lap. He didn't know where he got the ability to suddenly do this type of magic, he just knew that he was able to do strange things since that morning.

"Oh Luddie," Tonks breathed as she unwrapped the present and pulled out a bracelet that Harry had spent close to 70 Galleons on. Harry just smiled as he took it from her and put it on. When he was done, however, he kept his hands on Tonks'.

"'Dora, I've been thinking about this for a while," Harry started, thinking to himself that it was all or nothing, "And I must say that I have fallen for you, in a way that poets write about. Please, will you give me the pleasure of going out with me?"

A huge smile, one that stretched from ear to ear spread out on Tonks' face.

"Of course I will!" Tonks said, throwing her arms around Harry's neck, causing Harry to hug her back. Loosening up for a second, Harry and Tonks slowly tilted their heads towards each other, before capturing each others lips in a totally loving kiss.

Later that night, as Harry was preparing to go back to Patrick's home, he and Tonks stood in front of the fireplace.

"I'm going to miss you even more now," Tonks said, as they stood in front of each other, holding hands.

"Same here," Harry whispered back, before enveloping her in a loving embrace. After a few minutes, the pair separated, and stood facing each other again.

"Remember, it's only a little over a week," Harry said, trying to convince himself that it wasn't going to be as long as it seemed. Leaning down, he kissed Tonks on the lips.

"Until then," Harry breathed, throwing the powder into the fire, and leaving Tonks' home, feeling longing creep into his heart almost the minute he started to spin.

When he arrived, he noticed that almost all of the lights were off in the house, so he waved his hand, and instantly the lights in the room reacted to his hand. Staring at his hand, Harry started to feel very lightheaded. He felt as if his mind was overloading, as if it was imploding upon itself.

The last thing Harry saw as he was passing out was a mass of swirling colors in front of his face, and the feet of four other people...

**End Chapter**


	5. Stripped Polyclef

**Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory** by **Tradiferis**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything that you do not recognize is most likely mine, everything that you do recognize isn't mine. Onto the story._

**Chapter Seven  
Stripped Polyclef**

"Intense magical overload?"

"It appears to be that way. It appears, Agent O'Shannon, as if he had a sudden burst of magical information recently, and his brain gave up on trying to sort all the added knowledge."

"Will he be okay?"

"He should make a full recovery; in fact, he should be waking up anytime now. We just helped his brain sort through all the information."

Harry groaned as colors once again began cavalcading in his field of vision. The voices that were surrounding him weren't helping his headache any either...

"Here Harry, take this," came a familiar voice, pressing a vial to his lips. Harry didn't even offer any resistance as a cool liquid crept down his throat.

Instantly he became aware of his surroundings and had control over all of his senses again. Looking around, he saw that Patrick and what appeared to be a doctor.

"What happened?" Harry asked, as he tried to sit up, and was helped by Patrick and the doctor.

"You're brain experienced an overload of information," the doctor said, "From what, we don't know. We have since sorted all the new information in your brain, and you should be doing better within a few days. Although, you now appear to have as much information as a fully trained Unspeakable. Perhaps you should consider that as a career? Whatever, I hardly care. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my vacation."

The doctor walked out of the room.

"That was Dr. Alaway, he's one of the many healers that are employed by the Department of Mysteries," Patrick told Harry after Alaway left, "He has seen quite a bit, so he really wasn't all to intrigued by what happened to you, just annoyed he was the only healer available."

Harry sat silent for a minute, and then asked, "What exactly happened to me again?"

"Well it appears as if your brain absorbed the knowledge usually only available to a fully trained Unspeakable, and your brain after trying to sort through the information just gave up and shut down," Patrick replied, staring at Harry for a second before continuing, "How _did_ you get all that information anyways?"

Harry blankly stared back at Patrick while sorting through his mind trying to figure that out for himself. Raking his mind, he couldn't immediately think of anything that might have caused this, and related that to Patrick.

"Hmm," was Patrick's only response before helping Harry out of the bed.

"We might as well get home now, all you need now is some rest," Patrick said, leading Harry out of the room and down a hallway that greatly reminded Harry of the 'holding room' he had been in during his first stay in the Department of Mysteries.

Later that night as Harry lay on his bed at the O'Shannon's he tried to figure out what had happened. Thinking it would be best to write down everything that happened to him in the past twenty four hours he stretched out his hand like it was the most natural thing in the world and a piece of parchment and a quill flew into it, which he immediately dropped, startled as _it wasn't the most natural thing in the world_.

"What is going on?" Harry said to himself as he tried again, thinking of needing his quill, and then holding his hand out. Immediately, the quill sprung into his hand. Trying this newfound technique with other objects in his room he found that as long as the object wasn't too large or too magical filled, it flew right into his hand. Even then, if the object was heavily magical, as long as Harry concentrated hard the object eventually came to him.

"Interesting," Harry said about ten minutes later when he was done testing out his power, and started writing out any "odd" things that had happened in the past 24 hours. Within seconds he landed on the ONLY odd thing that had occurred: the pensieve. Immediately the memories of what happened in the bowl washed over him.

_He was Luddie, Luddie had talked to him about not worrying about the timeline, He was Luddie, Luddie didn't even know why they-no HE was sent back in time, He was Luddie, Luddie putting his wand up to His head and a great understanding coming over Him, He was Luddie, LUDDIE PUTTING HIS WAND UP TO HIS HEAD!_

That was it! Harry then remembered what the doctor had told him, '_your brain absorbed the knowledge usually only available to a fully trained Unspeakable_.' Harry leaned back in his chair and pondered what this meant for him. Moments later a smile found itself plastered onto his face. It meant that the rest of Hogwarts wasn't going to be that hard at all...

-

_"As you can guess Harry, it is imperative that you learn Occlumency," Dumbledore said as Harry took a seat in his office towards the beginning of his sixth year, "You have been progressing grandly with self study from those books I sent to you during the summer. I now believe that I can safely teach you without Voldemort willing his way into both of our minds. Now tell me, did Severus teach you how to close off the different so-called 'channels' in your mind?"_

_Harry almost sneered as he replied, "No sir, he just told me to "clear my mind" before putting me under the spell."_

_Dumbledore looked slightly weary for a slight moment before saying, "That is most disturbing. I suppose I did put just a little too much trust in Severus for that responsibility. An old man's mistake-"_

_"I'm sorry, SIR," Harry interrupted in a terse voice, "But how many more of your mistakes are going to cost people's lives? How much misguided trust are you actually going to throw about before it leads to your own downfall?"_

_"Harry," Dumbledore replied in a stoic voice, "I have said time, and time again, that I trust Severus Snape with my life-"_

_"But I don't," Harry cut him off, in the same exact tone, "I wouldn't trust that man if my life depended on it. Now, are you going to help me retake control of my mind, or are we going to debate over how much of a bastard that man is?"_

_"Harry, he's a professor and he deserves-"_

_"Sir with all due respect, you can kiss my bullocks," Harry ground out, gaining a slightly shocked look out of Dumbledore, "That man doesn't deserve anything except to be a grease spot on my boots."_

_Dumbledore was silent for a moment, before quickly raising his wand right to Harry's temple and saying in a calm voice, "Legilimens."_

_Harry was almost thrown onto his back as images quickly flooded his mind without a discernable pattern. As quick as he could Harry worked to clear his mind. As he did this, the images started to appear to have a pattern of all of Harry's favorite memories. Locking onto this, Harry instantly started to try to clear his mind of all his favorite memories, as the book Dumbledore had lent him instructed to do. However, Dumbledore immediately shifted to Harry's worst memories, and when Harry turned his full attention to that, Dumbledore had easy access to Harry's cherished memories._

_"That's a lot better than I expected Harry," Dumbledore said, losing the stoic tone that he and Harry had shared in their spat, "Do you know what you did wrong?"_

_"I turned my full attention to protecting my worst memories when I should have devoted equal attention to both them and my others," Harry said, rubbing his temple slightly. Occlumency always seemed to give him a major headache._

_"Yes, although to be able to successfully ward off an attack like that, you need significant control and power within your own mind," Dumbledore went on, "Which is why it's important to learn about the 'channels' within your mind, learn how your mind has organized your memories, and even learn how to rearrange them so as to confuse your opponent."_

_Harry sat, thoughtful, for a second, before asking, "What do you mean by rearrange sir?"_

_Dumbledore chuckled as he responded, "I suppose that's not as clear cut as I had hoped it sounded. Think of it as hiding a book on the Dark Arts within a pile of books on Cheering Charms. Your own mind will know where the memory is located, but it makes finding the memory by an outside source incredibly difficult and gives you a precious few moments to secure the memory so it isn't let out once found."_

_"That makes sense sir," Harry replied and was about to ask another question when Dumbledore's fireplace roared to life and a heavily cloaked figure stepped out._

_"I haff some urgent news Headmaster," came the voice of the heavily cloaked person, whose voice reminded Harry greatly of some of the Durmstrang student's._

_"It will have to wait a moment Christoph," Dumbledore said with a serious voice, motioning to Harry, "I'm with a student right now."_

_"Oh, I'll just vait in de corner then," the person, now identified as Christoph, replied, conjuring a chair and sitting down next to Fawke's perch, petting the phoenix while staring straight at Dumbledore._

_"I'm sorry Harry," Dumbledore sighed, "But we'll have to cut this session short, as there apparently is urgent business that I must attend to-"_

_"You can bet your corn-cobbled pipe dat there is," came the voice of Christoph. Dumbledore sighed once again._

_"I'll see you again next week at the same time Harry, now please hurry along."_

_Harry nodded and gave Christoph a strange look before he walked out the door, which closed with a heavy THUD behind him; most likely due to a spell from Christoph. As Harry was walking down the stairs he could hear the highly agitated voice of Christoph almost shout, "THE PROOF IS RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF YOU! OPEN YOUR EYES," before the sound was cut off, also most likely due to a spell..._

-

Harry progressed through his sixth year at Hogwarts at a better pace than before, thanks to his new 'memories' gained from his 'conversation' with his future self. It still didn't change the fact that he was barely above average in Transfiguration. It seemed even with the knowledge of a fully trained Unspeakable and being a Metamorphmagus to boot; he still hadn't inherited his father's talent in that area.

Along with the school year progressing, so did his relationship with Tonks. The two rarely spent a minute apart, and spent many a night in front of the fireplace in the Ravenclaw common room doing their homework and just being _together_.

"So what are your plans for once you get out of here?" Tonks asked on one such night in late April. Harry stretched out his hand and his back after finishing the sentence he was on in his Potions essay.

"I want to be an Unspeakable," Harry replied, looking up at Tonks and smiling, "You, Dora?"

"I want to be an Auror," Tonks related back, "Have ever since I can remember."

"Are you sure that's safe considering how many times I've had to catch you from falling down flat on your face this year?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, causing Tonks to throw the quill she was holding at him.

"Shut your gob!" Tonks cried with mock outrage, "Besides, most of the time you're just trying to cop a feel, you perv."

"Maybe, maybe," Harry replied looking back down at his essay, pretending he didn't see Tonks get peeved and throw a pillow at him.

"Oh am I interrupting something?" came a slightly cold voice with an Irish accent, Fey Murphy, one of Tonks' best friends.

"No, Tonks was just accusing me of being a perv," Harry said, with a slight amount of mirth in his voice, causing Tonks to try to summon the pillow to hit him in the head, but only succeeding in hitting herself in the face.

"Lovely," Fey intoned, before walking to the other side of the common room. Fey had not been on such great terms with the couple since they had officially became a couple due to a slight crush she had on Harry.

"So are you planning on interning at the Ministry this summer?" Tonks asked, getting back to their original conversation. Earlier in the week they had received letters from the Ministry saying that if they intended on joining it after they finished schooling, they would need to spend a summer interning to 'learn the ropes' of how the Ministry worked.

"Ja, I've been working on getting that straightened out with the Department of Mysteries," Harry said, thinking of the letter he had sent straight to Patrick. He would be hearing back from him in a few days what he would be doing to satisfy the Ministry requirements.

"Wow, you're actually going to be able to get into the Department of Mysteries?" Tonks said, with a small amount of shock on her face. Harry didn't blame her, the D.O.M. was the most notoriously closed door department within the Ministry, and barely ever gave out internships, or even accepted new agents.

Harry considered carefully what he was going to say for a moment before finally replying, "You could say my family has some connections. It also isn't hurting I'm the top of the year in most of the classes..."

"Not to mention that at the rate you're going you're going to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts Aptitude Crest..." Tonks said with a sly smile. Harry just threw a pillow at her, laughing.

Sure enough, two days later Harry received a letter from Patrick in the morning Owl Post.

_Harry-  
Once again, don't worry, this is charmed so only you can read (but still incinerate this at the first chance you get). I have everything set up for your internship this summer. You will be my personal secretary. Not just a normal secretary though, as you'll be coming out 'in the field' with me many times to record my observations and learn how we Unspeakables work. I might also be able to throw you on a couple of training missions if you keep up your work as the top of the class (except for Transfiguration, which I don't get seeing how you're a bleeding Metamorphmagus)._

_Oh, before I forget, Gwen and Stacy send "big hugs" to their "older brother." Seriously Harry, you have these girls enamored with you. Oh, and since you're going to be my secretary I managed to secure it that you'll be staying with my family this summer as Unspeakables have some of the oddest hours in the world, and you'll never know when you need your walking note pad._

_See you after term is over Harry, and do try to pick up your Transfiguration grade, okay?_

_-P. O'Shannon, Unspeakable 3rd Class_

Attached to the letter, was the official paperwork of his internship that needed to be filed with his Head of House. Deciding to do that later in the day when he saw Professor Flitwick for Charms, he finished eating his breakfast, and related to Tonks that he had been accepted into the Department of Mysteries for an internship.

"That's great Luddie," Tonks said, giving him a hug and a kiss, before asking him about the Potions essay that was due the next day, that she was having trouble on.

The final term carried on, with Harry continuing to gain top marks in all of his classes, except for Transfiguration. No matter how many times he had Tonks show him the highly advanced spells, he could never completely master them.

"I'm going to miss you all the time," Tonks said to Harry when they were about 10 minutes away from the Kings Cross Station after classes let out for the summer.

"Same here," Harry said with a sigh, "But we'll be able to see each other about every two weeks!"

"Yeah, but I'm used to seeing you every day," Tonks said with a slight pout. With the pair interning, they would have precious free time. They did, however, make a promise to meet up at least once every two weeks.

"Hey, we'll write everyday, okay?" Harry said, trying to console his normally highly upbeat girlfriend. Tonks looked at him with a slight smile on her face.

"You better, or I'm going to hex you the first chance I get," she said with a slight smirk on her face, causing Harry to laugh slightly.

"Don't worry I will," Harry said, giving her a kiss.

Five minutes later, the train pulled into Platform 9 and 3/4, and Harry and Tonks were looking at each other on the platform, holding hands.

"I'm going to miss you," Harry said, leaning down and giving her a slightly deep kiss, before whispering into her ear, "Two weeks, Dora."

"Two weeks Luddie," Tonks whispered back, before turning away and walking over to where her parents were waiting.

"I love you so much," Harry said to himself, before bending over and picking up his trunk to go looking for Patrick. Luckily, he didn't have to look long.

"Who's the lass?" came a voice from right next to Harry, startling him. Whipping around, and drawing his wand at the same time, he saw the slightly amused face of Patrick, who was dressed in a muggle suit.

"My girlfriend," Harry said, with a small laugh as Patrick pulled him into a quick hug.

"Nymphadora Tonks, isn't it?" Patrick asked, causing Harry to nod his head, "She's interning with the Aurors isn't she?"

"Right in one," Harry responded, walking out of the platform with Patrick.

"By the way," Patrick said as they were walking, taking a letter out of his suit coat as they were walking, "I have something here that you might find interesting that I'll give to you once we reach the car."

"Are you still driving that green clunker?" Harry asked with a slight smile on his face, causing Patrick to glare at him.

"I'll have you know, that 'green clunker', as you call it, would easily outstrip every car on the road," Patrick said with a small amount of frustration in his voice, although his eyes were twinkling.

"Okay, okay," Harry said, laughing, as the pair reached Patrick's car. After the pair had packed away Harry's trunk and Edgar's cage, Harry asked Patrick what the letter was.

"Oh, that's right," Patrick said, sitting down in the driver's seat, "Well, if you agree to it, this letter would declare that your reclusive 'family' was accidentally involved in a mishap at their mansion that centers around it collapsing, and that you no longer have any family to speak of. I would then be able to more or less adopt you into my family."

Patrick looked at Harry with a slightly worried face. Harry looked at Patrick in disbelief for a moment, and was about to respond when Patrick said hurriedly, "Of course, if you don't want that, I would understand and all, but it would be great to have you in the family and all, it would make your story easier-"

"Patrick," Harry said cutting him off, "I would love it. It's a brilliant idea."

Patrick just gave Harry a huge smile before pulling out of Kings Cross. Harry sat back into the seat with a smile on his face as well. He was finally going to have a place to truly call home...

-

_"I had fun Susan," Harry said to Susan Bones, his date for the End of the Year ball, as he led her back to the Hufflepuff common room. The two had become friends gradually throughout the year. Harry had originally asked her to help him get some information on the Auror program seeing that her aunt, Amelia Bones, was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. From there, they had taken to enjoying each other's company, but they both recognized that nothing serious would ever come between them._

_"Same here Harry," Susan responded as the two reached the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, "You're going to make a girl real happy some day."_

_"One can only hope," Harry said with a slight smile, as Susan gave him a kiss on the cheek before entering her common room. Harry stared after her for a minute, before turning around and walking towards his own common room, but deciding to take the longest way possible so he could just be by himself for a moment._

_"You know, she really wanted you to follow her," came a voice from right besides Harry, causing him to spin around and fall flat on his face after he tripped on the hem of his robes. Looking up he saw a proffered hand from Ludwig. Taking it, he stood up and dusted himself off._

_"How the hell did you do that?" Harry asked as he continued walking, with Ludwig right next to him, "And what did you mean 'she wanted me to follow her'?"_

_"My father taught me," Ludwig responded as the pair took a staircase that would lead them to the opposite side of the castle from the Gryffindor common room, "And I have two sisters, and a fiancé. I know what women want in those situations, and Miss Bones wanted you to spend the night with her."_

_"So what do you do when your sister's have that look?" Harry asked with a small smirk. Ludwig shot him a protective look._

_"I inform the boy that I have a license to kill," he shot back, "And they could very quickly become three pages of paperwork."_

_"So what are you doing here? I doubt it's to enjoy the scenery," Harry asked, not wanting to aggravate the older brother anymore._

_"It's two fold," Ludwig responded, and for the first time Harry noticed they were in the Astronomy Tower, "Originally I was just going to visit my sisters, but then something came up in the Department and I thought it would prudent to tell you to be very careful the next few weeks. Something might happen, and it would be wise for you to be on your highest alert."_

_"Are you suggesting for me to be paranoid?" Harry asked, slightly annoyed. While he knew that a war was going on, when he was inside these walls he could at least forget about it for a moment._

_"No, just keep your wand within quick reach at all times," Ludwig said. Harry raised his eyebrow as he lifted up his arm, pulled down the sleeve of his robe, and showed the wand holster that was strapped to his forearm._

_"Good, just make sure you're always on alert, I have a feeling something bad is about to happen..."_

-

The summer was flying by for Harry, who was having quite possibly one of the best summers of his life. The work he was doing interning with the Unspeakables kept him almost always on the go, and while he didn't do much in terms of casting spells, he was always learning new things. Or at least, always remembering 'new things' due to the memories that his future self had shocked his system with. He was even able to pass his Apparition exam the day that he turned 17, something that he was glad, for as it allowed him to meet up with Tonks more often than they originally could, even if it was late in the summer.

His relationship with Tonks was progressing at a nice clip too in his opinion. Every time that they met their relationship seemed to progress, but it was a double edged sword. For as much as their relationship progressed, they still had to part only a short while later.

Towards the end of the summer, Patrick walked into his office, which Harry was sharing for the summer with a small grin on his face.

"You're looking happy," Harry commented to Patrick as he walked in. Patrick's smile turned into a smirk as he looked at Harry.

"I just got out of a meeting with the Department Heads about you," Patrick said, as Harry gave him his full attention, "And it seems as your final assignment on this internship is going to be a mock mission."

"A what?" Harry responded, not thinking that he heard right.

"A mock mission," Patrick said, stressing every word in a voice usually reserved for talking to five year olds, "It's where we can determine just how much you learned this summer, what you picked up, etc. Since you already underwent the battery you qualify for this evaluation."

"Great," Harry responded, leaning back in his chair, looking at the ceiling for a moment, before looking at Patrick, "What will this mock mission entail?"

"I was wondering when you were going to ask that," Patrick commented, "What you're going to be doing is a basic stealth and concealment mission. You're going to be using your 'abilities' to conceal yourself the best you can, and then using any means necessary you're going to try to retrieve a briefcase that is being guarded be about five different Aurors, varying in experience level."

Harry's eyes widened slightly as he took in this information, as Patrick continued on, "Now I'm going to be blunt here, Harry. The Heads are expecting you to mess up, so if you can succeed with this, it would guarantee you entry into the Unspeakables. I have every bit of confidence in you doing that too. And not to put any pressure on you, I have a nice bit of Galleons on the outcome of this with some of my buddies in the Aurors. So, do good okay? Let's go home."

Patrick and Harry stood up so that they could go to the Apparition point and head home, with Harry processing all this information in his head.

'_I know I can do this_,' Harry was thinking to himself, '_I mean, I'm a Metamorphmagus, so this shouldn't be extremely hard, but I do need to make sure I know all the spells I need for this. A bunch of sound reduction charms will be able to work for this, and some...wait. When is this test?_'

He posed that question to Patrick, who only smiled before saying, "Tomorrow night starting at ten. You have tomorrow off by the way."

With that, Patrick Disapparated, leaving a shocked Harry in his wake.

-

The next night found Harry waiting with Patrick in the Unspeakable mission room, getting briefed on the 'mission;' all of the 'known, unknowns and variables,' as well as where Harry had to go in order to retrieve the briefcase, and what he was to do once he got it. Plus all 'contingent' plans if he was discovered.

"Now, in this controlled environment, remember to use ONLY Stunners," Patrick was telling Harry, who was dressed all in black, and had even tinted his skin so black that it resembled that of the Kingsley Shacklebolt, "If this was real, you would have a license to kill, and thus be able to use killing curses. However, you do not yet possess one of those, so Stunners only."

Harry nodded his head.

"Now remember, if you can, knock out all of the 'operatives' that you can, but concentrate on the briefcase," Patrick looked at his watch for a moment, "Finally, good luck Ludwig, you're going to do great."

Hugging Patrick, Harry Apparated to the point that had been specified in his briefing that would be the safest. Looking down at himself to make sure he was as black as could be, he cast a localized sound nullifying charm on his feet, before moving towards the office building that the briefcase was being held in.

_"The briefcase is being held on the third floor, with one person guarding it at all times...The backdoor from the alley always has three guards behind it at all times..."_

Considering his options, Harry realized it would be easier to only have to take out one guard, than having to take out all five. However, he wasn't quite sure if he could safely levitate himself up to the third floor without somehow screwing up. It was also unknown if wards had been set up to detect magic on the side of the building, although he seemed to know that the building was in fact warded to pick this up.

Looking at the door, he noticed it open, and quickly went as far back into the shadows that he could.

"I'm going to check out here, Rosenwood," came the voice of person that stepped out, who was also dressed all in black, except his head was exposed, "I'll be back within one minute."

Quickly setting his watch to go off after a minute, he ran out of the shadows as soon as the door was closed, catching the person off guard.

"What the-," the person was cut off by a Stunner that hit him right in the temple. Harry then waited patiently for his minute timer to expire before knocking on the door and assuming the man's voice.

"I got him. We're all clear."

The door opened, revealing a male and a female guard.

"Who the bloody hell are-," the woman was cut off by a well placed punch to the nose from Harry, who had to quickly duck a Stunner that was sent at him by the male guard. Grabbing the female guard around the neck in a sleeper hold, he used her body to deflect the various curses being sent at him. After a few volleys Harry feigned being hit, and dropped down to the ground.

"I knew that a sub-rookie would never be able to last," came the male's voice, while Harry quietly counted the male's steps until he was standing right next to him, "This was easier than I thought, I'll just tell the rook' upstairs she wasn't needed after all."

The male then started to turn around, and Harry took this as his chance as he grabbed the man's foot and flipped him over onto his back. Harry quickly jumped back up onto his feet and shot a Stunner at the man's head, which connected before the man could even realize what was going on.

Catching his breath, Harry started to walk up the stairs, making sure to stay in the shadows as much as possible. When he got to the landing on the third floor, however, he felt a tingling on the back of his neck. Knowing that someone was in the hallway, Harry did the most sensible thing that he could do. He shot off a firework down the hallway out of his wand, and then Apparated with a barely noticeable 'pop' due to the firework onto the other side of the wall. Immediately, a spell was sent in the direction that the firework had been set off from.

Harry then sent a Stunner at the opposite wall from where the spell came from, knowing that the guard was most likely following the same strategy that he did. He missed, but he did hear a girlish sounding, "Oh crap," come from that direction.

Harry quickly did a roll down the hallway to avoid spells as he shouted, "Lumos Totalus!"

Instantly, the hallway was lit up by Harry's wand in light, and Harry saw the final guard, who had a slightly scared look on her face. Avoiding the rapid, if slightly erratic, stunners that were being sent his way, Harry tackled the girl to the ground and quickly put a choke hold on her, before saying in a deeper voice that his usual one, "Which room is the briefcase in?"

"The second door from the end," the woman choked out. Harry instantly released the hold.

"Thank you," he said, fully expecting the choke hold to have taken enough wind out of the girl for her not to be a problem.

"Metamorphmagi Confundo," proved him wrong, and Harry's body was instantly wracked in pain as the spell forced his body to revert back to it's natural form.

'That person must be a Metamorphmagus,' went running threw Harry's head as he went down to the ground. The person must have been to recognize his not to perfect voice inflection, and to know the spell that would temporarily paralyze his body while it reverted back to it's normal form, a spell that only Metamorphmagi knew of.

As the spell's effects wore off, Harry shifted to his 'Ludwig' form underneath his black garments, as the woman approached.

"You almost had me there for a second," came the woman's voice, which sounded slightly familiar to Harry, just a little higher than he was used to...and he could feel his legs again!

"Let's see who you are," the woman was saying as she bent down to remove Harry's mask, which Harry used as the opportunity to kick out the legs of the person.

"You don't have me yet," Harry said in a monotone voice, jumping back up, where he was met in a dueling pose by the woman. Not wasting anytime, Harry instantly sent a Stunner, which was met by a Stunner sent by the woman. Flipping out of the way of the rebound, Harry Apparated in midair right next to where he knew the woman would be before hitting her with a Stunner in the temple.

_"If you get the chance, bring back one of the guards for 'questioning.'"_

"You're coming with me," he said to the woman's prone form, heaving her up onto his shoulders, and then walking to the second last doorway in the hallway, where he found the briefcase a table. Pressing a button on his watch, which was a portkey, he felt the familiar tugging sensation on his navel before he found himself back in the briefing room where he was greeted by Patrick, and two of who he was recognized as two of the Department Heads.

"Very good job Mr. Waechter," said one of the heads, taking the briefcase from Harry, "What can you tell us about this person here?"

"She was guarding the briefcase, is a rookie, and is a Metamorphmagus, sir," Harry told the head, setting the woman's body down in a chair, and pulling the hood off of his head so that he could see better.

"Would you like to do the honors of seeing who exactly this is?" the other head asked Harry, as Patrick looked on with a slightly apprehensive glance.

"Sure," Harry said, before whispering, "Enervate," and then quickly the spell that revealed Metamorphmagus' true forms. He was met with the shock of his life.

Staring back at him with wide eyes was his girlfriend. The love of his life. Nymphadora Tonks.

"Oh, err...shit," Harry muttered, walking towards the door feeling slightly sick, "I think I'm going to go home and have a heart attack..."

**End Chapter**


	6. I Palindrome I

**Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory** by **Tradiferis**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything that you do not recognize is most likely mine, everything that you do recognize isn't mine. Onto the story._

**Chapter Eight  
I Palindrome I**

_"OW! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs, while laying flat on his back unable to move most of his body._

_"It's called the Morph-Reveal. Just a simple spell that causes a Metamorphmagus to revert back to their original form," Tonks said, sitting on a table with her legs crossed in front of her, "You'll find that you will gradually regain control over your body, depending on how many changes you've made to it."_

_Harry, who had only modified his skin tone slightly, and his height slightly still, felt his legs come back into feeling, and then finally his upper body._

_"Only a select group of people actually know that spell," Tonks went on saying, helping Harry off the ground, "Most of them Metamorphmagus' themselves."_

_Tonks looked around the Room of Requirement before looking back at Harry._

_"How do you get something to drink in here?" she asked him._

_Harry sighed, waving his hand, he felt like he had the wind knocked out of him, "Just concentrate on what you need, and it will appear."_

_"Really?" Tonks responded, getting a slightly mischievous look on her face, before scrunching up her face in concentration. Suddenly, a bottle of firewhiskey appeared next to them, "I think you've earned the right to knock a few back with me."_

_"Are you trying to teach me bad habits?" Harry asked, with a slight bit of laughter in his voice._

_"Listen, you have a dark lord after you," Tonks said as two shot glasses appeared next to the bottle, "A few shots are not going to hurt you. In fact, it might help you calm down. Just don't tell anyone I'm letting you do this, or, in fact, do this without my supervision. The Order might get a little peeved at me."_

_"With good reason," came a deep accented voice from the corner of the room._

_"How did you get in here?" replied Tonks' surprised voice._

_"Let's just say that a little bird told me how," said the laughing voice of Ludwig Waechter, who hugged his fiancé and gave her a kiss, "How are you doing?"_

_"I'm doing alright, glad my fiancé is back in the country again," Tonks replied as Harry watched the two shared a moment, "I was just helping Harry with his morphing abilities."_

_"And teaching him how to drink horrible whiskey?" Ludwig said with a skeptical voice._

_"Hey, he deserves the chance to unwind every so often!" Tonks responded, defensively._

_"Wasn't saying that he shouldn't," Ludwig retorted pulling a bottle out of his quote, "Just saying he shouldn't drink something that is better used for cleaning stains out of my dog's blanket."_

_He looked over to Harry, "Here, directly from Germany: Beckermann's Original..._

Harry was woken up from his nap at his desk by a folder being slapped down next to him. Harry looked up, trying to remember where he was, and then saw the slightly serious face of Patrick.

'Oh that's right, I came here last night after that,' Harry thought, 'I was going to wait for Patrick before going home.'

"What time is it?" Harry asked, leaning back and trying to get rid of the knot in his back.

"It's eight in the morning, you've been asleep for about four hours," Patrick responded, picking the folder up and looking at Harry from over the top of the folder, "Nymphadora Tonks, seventeen years old, just completed Auror internship, second highest marks for Defense Against the Dark Arts of her year, Metamorphmagus, and apparently the girlfriend of one Ludwig Waechter. She also is going to be the first person accepted into Auror training in over two years."

Harry still trying to work the knot out of his back where he was hit with the Morph-Reveal the night before, "Who's the first in the class?"

"You," Patrick responded with a bit of concern in his voice, "Listen I didn't know she was going to be part of that test last night, and she probably didn't realize that you were going to be part of it either-"

"I'm not concerned about that," Harry responded, surprising Patrick, "I'm more concerned with how much she's going to hate me for keeping a secret from her."

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Patrick replied, as Harry gave him a questioning look, "She's down in the Medical Center; apparently you knocked her for quite a loop."

Harry lit up for a second, and was just about to go dashing out of the room when Patrick spoke up again, "Hey wait up a second."

Harry turned around just in time to catch something that Patrick had tossed to him. Looking at it he saw that it was an ID card that had his picture on it along with the words 'LEVEL NINE 'E' CLEARANCE.' Looking up at Patrick quizzically he asked, "What's this?"

"You've officially been accepted into Unspeakable training, and because of that you are now granted low level access to the Department," Patrick explained, "The card basically allows you to walk through the hallways without me holding your hand, and into some other low security areas, such as the Medical Center."

"Thank you," Harry said, clipping the ID onto the pocket of his robes.

"Go see your girlfriend," Patrick said, waving his hand in Harry's general direction, who walked as fast as possible to the Medical Center.

"I was wondering which room Nymphadora Tonks is in?" Harry asked the witch that was at the counter.

"Card please," the witch replied nonchalantly as Harry handed his newly granted ID card over. The witch ran her wand over the card, which glowed a bright blue, before saying to Harry, "Miss Tonks is in room 15 B Mr. Waechter. Have a nice day."

Thanking the witch, Harry grabbed his ID before following the directions on the wall to Tonks' room. Once he was outside the door, he was about to enter when he heard voices from the inside.

"Don't worry mum," came Tonks' voice, "Just have a sore throat, a headache, and my ribs hurt a bit from where a Morph-Reveal spell was cast..."

Harry cringed from outside the door, and quickly conjured up a vase of lilies in his hand before listening in on Tonks' conversation with her mother once more.

"Why are you in the Department of Mysteries though?" came the voice of Andromeda Tonks, and Harry could tell by the clarity of the voice that she was in the room with Tonks. Not to mention the fact that there wasn't a fireplace in the room...

"Well seeing that the person that got me was an Unspeakable, it makes sense they brought me to their healing station-"

Harry cut Tonks off by knocking on the door and walking into the room, "Person wasn't quite an Unspeakable, just a trainee."

"Oh Ludwig!" Mrs. Tonks exclaimed, getting up and hugging Harry, "It's so good to see you! What are you doing here?"

Harry looked at Tonks a second, who was giving him a look he couldn't quite understand before turning back to Mrs. Tonks, "I'm being trained to be an Unspeakable...and I'm responsible for your daughter's condition right now unfortunately."

"Oh," Mrs. Tonks replied, looking between her daughter and Harry, who was currently studying his shoes like they were going to help him with his N.E.W.T.s. Mrs. Tonks looked back at her daughter a second before saying, "Well, I need to get a hold of Ted and tell him how you're doing. I'll be back in a while dear, it was nice seeing you again Ludwig."

"You too Mrs. Tonks," Harry replied, allowing her to leave through the door he was currently blocking. Once the door was closed, he looked at Tonks who had an awkward look on her face. Harry sighed, before holding up the vase of lilies, "I, uh, brought these for you."

"Why didn't you tell me you were a Metamorphmagus?" Tonks instantly replied, leaving Harry standing holding the vase.

Harry sighed, thinking that he had no good reason to tell her why not before saying, "I don't know...why didn't you tell me YOU were one?"

"I thought you would want me to take on specific appearances like all the other boys in my life have," Tonks said with a slightly guarded voice, looking down at her blanket covered feet, before looking up at Harry with a look that almost broke his heart.

"Oh 'Dora," Harry whispered before sitting down in the chair next to the bed, and wrapping his arm gingerly around her shoulders, "I would NEVER ask you to be someone that you aren't. I like you just the way you are!"

"Thank you," Tonks responded with a slight bit of happiness in her voice, before saying, "So you were the Unspeakable agent last night?"

"Yes, I, uh-"

"Well can you take his appearance on again, he was yummy!" Tonks said with a slight smirk on her face, while Harry adopted a 'hippogriff in the headlights' look.

"I-I-I-uh," Harry trailed off before he saw the look on Tonks' face. She was laughing her head off. Harry laughed and said, "You little Nymph!"

"I'm sorry, but the look on your face was priceless," Tonks said laughing. Harry smiled, he was glad to see her happy again.

"So you're not mad about what I did to you last night?" Harry asked, breaking the question that could possibly ruin the moment. Tonks looked at Harry, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Luddie, I am not mad," Tonks said, very seriously, "You were just doing your job, and so was I."

Tonks got a smile on her face before continuing, "And besides, it just reinforces that you are an amazing wizard, seeing as you have to be to get the better of me!"

Harry wrapped Tonks up in his arms laughing at her. Everything was going to be okay.

-

Harry took in the sea of people in the Great Hall. It was two weeks after his last official class at Hogwarts, and he was now in black dress robes standing on a platform with ten of his fellow students. Scanning the crowd he caught Tonks' eye and smiled. Returning back to reality he heard Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, continue on with his commencement address.

"This is one of the most successful classes in recent memory," Fudge stumbled on. Harry rolled his eyes, the man did not have the slightest clue that the more he talked the less people were interested.

"He obviously forgets the class two year ago," Liam Flaighly muttered to Harry, who was standing right next to him. Finally Fudge's speech was over, and Dumbledore stepped up to the podium.

"I once again congratulate all the students who have survived these seven years," Dumbledore started, "Goodness knows that we tried our hardest, but they managed to survive despite our best efforts."

The crowd chuckled, and Harry once again wondered at how Dumbledore was light years better at speaking than Fudge.

"It is now time to hand out achievement awards to the fine students standing on this stage," Dumbledore went on, "The following people are the top ten ranked students in this graduating class, and when I call their name they will step forward to receive the Golden Education Wand signifying this..."

Harry tuned out as each of the student's names next to him was read, and they got their award. When the last student received their wand and walked off stage, Dumbledore started speaking again, "Now, the following student is a transfer student who transferred after the fifth year, so unfortunately was unable to be counted in the class rankings. However, he is eligible for one of the oldest honors in school history due to his excellence in Defense Against the Dark Arts. It is my honor to present Ludwig Waechter with the Defense Against the Dark Arts Aptitude Shield."

Harry heard thunderous applause as he approached the podium where Dumbledore was waiting with a shield that was roughly the size of Gwen. As Harry stood next to Dumbledore, he went on, "The Defense Shield is different from the Defense Crest in that the Shield is only presented to students who have consistently managed to maintain a grade average of 110 in N.E.W.T. level Defense, along with N.E.W.T. level Transfiguration and Charms. A truly high honor that I now present to you Mr. Waechter."

Harry smiled at Dumbledore and could hardly contain the joy that he felt when Dumbledore handed the shield over to him and shook his hand. As he was walking off the stage he noticed Patrick, his wife, Gwen, and Stacy near the back of the audience. His adoptive family. He then took his seat with the students waiting to get their diploma's and caught the eye once more of the love of his life, Nymphadora Tonks, and he didn't think he had ever seen a bigger smile on her face. Yes, he had never felt this content ever before in his life.

Later that evening, Harry was sitting out on the Tonks' back porch just looking into the sky while her graduation party was winding down on the insides with only adult friends of the family remaining.

"We each start training next week," Tonks said in a quiet voice to Harry, who was currently encircling her with his arms, "and it's at least three years for the both of us before we actually begin working."

"Well, only two for me," Harry said with a chuckle, "I got a head start."

Tonks snorted, "Lucky you. You seem to have all the good things happen to you."

"Not necessarily," Harry replied, with a slight bit of mirth in his voice, "Not everyone got extra credit on their Charms N.E.W.T. by hexing all of the professor's robes pink."

"Yeah, that was a good prank," Tonks said to herself in a stage whisper, getting a laugh out of Harry. They both quieted up for a moment, and just continued looking at the stars, with Harry looking at the Dog Star, Sirius and thinking of how he wished he could change the timeline...

"These next few years are going to be harder than last summer," Tonks said to Harry, breaking him out of his thoughts. Harry swallowed before responding.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that," he said, turning her around so they were both looking at each other, "It IS going to be a long time for us to be apart, and I don't think I would be able to handle that-"

"Don't you dare tell me you're breaking up with me," Tonks said with a low voice and glint in her eyes, which scared Harry more than anything he had ever experienced in his life, and made him happy that he WASN'T breaking up with her.

"No, no, nothing like that," Harry replied quickly, and was relieved when he saw Tonks' features soften, "No, I was thinking what if we _didn't_ have to be apart for the next few years?"

"Keep talking," Tonks said with an interested voice.

"I was talking with Patrick about where I would stay seeing that it is against the Unspeakable's Code for trainees to live with their mentor, even if they are their son."

Tonks chuckled at that.

"And he told me that he would be getting me a flat in Surrey that his wife's sister owns," Harry went on, seeing Tonks become interested, "And I'm sure that he wouldn't want me staying in such a big place all by my lonesome..."

Harry trailed off as Tonks' grin became bigger and bigger as he went on. Tonks just looked at him for a moment, before saying, "I'm asking my parents right now."

Harry laughed as she launched herself back into the house. No, these few years weren't going to be long at all.

-

_Harry watched Susan as she walked away. It was about one week before the End of the Year ball, and the two had stayed after the DA meeting to talk about the plans for the ball: where to meet, what they were wearing, etc. Harry smiled to himself, glad that Susan was going with him. She was the only girl that he knew in the entire school that treated him like a normal person. Gathering his cloak that he had taken off during the meeting he left the Room of Requirement._

_"Hey Harry, wait up!" Harry heard a voice come from behind him. Turning around he saw that it seemed like Ron had been waiting for him outside of the room._

_"Hey Ron," Harry said, waiting up for Ron._

_"What took you so long in there?" Ron asked as the pair started to walk to the kitchens._

_"I was talking with Susan about plans for the ball," Harry replied._

_"What's going on between you two anyways?" Ron asked, as they walked down a staircase. Harry got an annoyed look on his face._

_"For the last time Ron, nothing is going on between us," Harry retorted. Ron must have asked him at least once a day since he and Susan had met for lunch on one of the Hogsmeade weekends earlier in the year._

_"Sure, mate," Ron said with a grin on his face, "I believe you."_

_Harry spun around with an angry look on his face right outside of the kitchens, "Listen. Me and Susan are just good friends. Much like you and I are. The only reason I'm not going to the ball with YOU is because you're a bloke, and I don't swing that way. Besides, Susan is a nice girl."_

_"Harry, I'm sorry," Ron said, getting a startled look on his face, "It's just that ever since Hermione died I just don't want to see you give up an opportunity for....for..."_

_Harry softened up immediately as Ron trailed off, looking really upset. Harry quickly tickled the pear and led Ron into the kitchen._

_"Listen mate, it's okay," Harry said as he led Ron to a table Dobby always had ready for him, "She wouldn't want you to become this sad over her."_

_"I'll never know that, because I waited so long to tell her," Ron said, leaning back in his chair and looking at the ceiling with red eyes. As Dobby arrived silently with dinner for the two of them Harry made up his mind about something._

_"Dobby, can you get me the bottle?" he asked the house elf. The house elf's eyes widened slightly for a moment before it responded._

_"Yes, sir, Harry Potter, sir, would yous be needing two of the smaller glasses Harry Potter sir?" the hyper elf asked. Harry just nodded, and the elf cracked away for a moment before reappearing seconds later._

_"Heres you are sir," Dobby said, handing Harry a bottle filled with burgundy liquid. Ron saw what it was and his eyes widened._

_"Is that...?"_

_"Beckermann's Original, imported from Germany," Harry said pouring both himself and Ron a shot, and pushing Ron his._

_"Where did you get it from? How did you manage to get it in here?" Ron asked looking at the liquid that looked like it was on fire. Harry smiled as he thought of Ludwig and his first experiences with this liquid. He had felt as if someone had punched him in the throat, stomach, and head simultaneously. Now he was used to the beverage, as he had a shot of it at least once a week._

_"That's for me to know and me only," Harry responded, holding up his glass, and gesturing Ron to do the same, "To Hermione. She was the best of friends."_

_"To Hermione," Ron said, chocking back a sob, clinking glasses with Harry, and then downing the liquid. Or at least trying to, because as soon as he put it in his mouth he spit it back out all over Harry._

_"Thanks," Harry said with a bit of a laugh in his voice._

_"My GOD that's strong," Ron said, waving his wand and cleaning off Harry who was trying not to laugh to hard, "I'm so sorry Harry."_

_"Don't worry about it, it's your first time," Harry replied, before smirking, "Lightweight."_

_Ron laughed and the pair spent the rest of the night drinking pumpkin juice and eating their dinner while talking about some of their best memories of Hermione._

-

Harry took a deep breath as he crouched stock still behind a pillar. He was in the middle of his final field test before he became a fully certified and active Unspeakable. He was required to wait for a "Mr. Alexander Dimitry," and when the man was alone in the room, his office, Harry was to subdue him, gather information that was in Dimitry's safe, and return with both Dimitry and the information to headquarters.

Looking at his watch, Harry saw that he had ten minutes before Dimitry returned to his office to collect his briefcase, and then return home. Harry started going over in his head everything that he had learned about Dimitry in the ten days he had spent learning his patterns before submitting his plan of execution to the Unspeakable Heads. Once Dimitry entered the room, Harry would have between four minutes and five minutes before Dimitry would be missed.

Looking back at his watch, Harry saw that he had eight minutes. Allowing himself to relax for a moment as to calm his nerves, Harry thought about the past two years. All the training sessions that he had been in to hone his stealth and concealment skills. All the hours perfecting his aim with his wand. All of the hours that he had spent late at night studying different books to learn different curses. All the time he had spent practicing with Tonks so that the two could both advance in their training...

It all came down to this mission that would be ending in the next five minutes.

"_Remember, this is a live mission. There will not be stunners from the other side, only killing curses. Good luck._"

Harry heard voices coming from the other side of the door, and realized that he had two minutes until Dimitry entered the room.

'Okay Harry,' he thought to himself, 'Just remember your training and everything will be fine. Truth serum, vault combination, stun him, grab files and Dimitry and get the hell out of Dodge.'

Closing his eyes, his hand reached into the pocket of his robes that is holding the hypodermic needle filled with Veritaserum. Readying himself, he makes sure that his wand is securely in his wrist holster, and that his spare wands were currently in the spots where he had put them. Setting the timer on his watch to five minutes, Harry listened as Dimitry walked into the room and locked the door.

Muttering a soundproofing spell and waving his hand at the door Harry snuck up behind Dimitry and stuck the needle as hard as he could into Dimitry's neck. Instantly, Dimitry collapsed on the ground. Making sure that his mask was firmly in place; Harry picked Dimitry up and placed him in one of the chairs of his office.

"What is your name?" Harry asked using a voice that was reminiscent of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Alexander Vladimir Dimitry," was the response he got from the nearly catatonic man.

"How old are you in years, months, and days?"

"Forty six years, five months, and 16 days."

Satisfied that the potion was working, Harry started to ask his serious questions, "Where is your safe located?"

"Under my desk."

"How do you access it?"

"By pressing on Moscow on the globe next to my desk."

Walking over to the globe, Harry pressed on Moscow, and watched as a glow emanated from under Dimitry's desk. Looking underneath he found a safe that did not have a combination lock, or any type of lock or door.

Walking back over to Dimitry he asked, "How do you access the contents of the safe?"

"You must press your wand on exactly the right point."

Thinking about his choices, Harry saw that he had three more minutes to get Dimitry, the contents of the safe, and himself back to headquarters.

"_You have been granted a full Unspeakable's License for this mission until you are issued a permanent one. This includes License to Kill, and License to use Unforgivables. Use it wisely."_

Looking at the man, Harry drew his wand, pointed it at Dimitry, and whispered, "_Imperio_."

Instantly telling Dimitry through his mind to open his safe, Dimitry quickly complied and walked over to the safe, and touched it with his wand. The safe emitted a golden glow, and then opened. Harry commanded Dimitry to sit in the desk chair with his mind, and then proceeded to pull the briefcase and two folders that were in the safe out. Shrinking the three objects, and pocketing them, Harry then stunned Dimitry, and slung him over his shoulder. Suddenly Harry saw the door glowing gold and heard talking on the other side.

"Sir! There's something you need to know before you leave!"

Cursing his luck, Harry quickly levitated Dimitry over to his Apparation point before transforming his face into the visage of a typical Russian gang member. Harry watched as the door opened, revealing a middle aged man who looked at him before going to pull his wand.

"Who the hell are-?"

"AVADA KEDAVRA," Harry shouted at the man with a Russian accent, and watched as the spell hit its mark dead on. Quickly picking up Dimitry, Harry Apparated straight back to headquarters.

He was met by Patrick, Bode, and two of the Heads. They were surprised to see a Russian gangster, but that changed quickly as Harry transformed back into 'Ludwig.'

"Any problems Waechter?" the Head with purple robes asked.

"I had to use Imperio on him to open the safe, and used the Killing Curse in order to safely leave, and also make this look like a hit committed by a rival gang," Harry responded.

"That would explain the face," Patrick muttered as looked Dimitry over.

"Do you have the contents of the safe?" the other Head asked. Harry nodded and enlarged the briefcase, and two folders.

"Excellent," the first head said, and he picked up the objects and walked with Bode out of the room.

"Good job, and congratulations," the other head said, pulling a folder out of thin air and handing it to Harry, "Fill out the necessary paper work, and you're free to go home on convalesce for the next three days _Agent_ Waechter."

Harry grinned as he saw the Head walk out of the room. He turned around and looked at Patrick, who was beaming.

"Agent Waechter?" Patrick said to Harry with a smile.

"I made it..." Harry said, opening the folder to see his brand new ID ministry ID card, his LEVEL NINE 'C' CLEARANCE card, and the official documentation of him being an Unspeakable.

"I knew you would be able to do it Harry," Patrick said to him, causing Harry to swell with pride at the use of his 'real' name. Patrick stepped over and hugged Harry around the shoulders as Harry just stared at his papers with a happy look on his face. Harry was brought back to reality when Patrick started to speak again, "We're having a family dinner tomorrow, Harry. I know the twins would love to see their brother, the Unspeakable..."

Harry smiled, even after being officially part of Patrick's family for the past three years, he still was nervous about inviting Harry over, "I would love to be there."

"Make sure to bring your lady along too, Helen has been itching to see her again," Patrick said as he released Harry, and picked up his cloak.

"I'll make sure," Harry replied, taking off his robes, and transfiguring his underclothes back into what they were before: a black, formfitting, turtleneck sweater, and black dress pants, "She probably just wants to ask her over and over when we're going to get married."

"Well, it has been three years, and you have been living together for two," Patrick said as he and Harry walked towards the Apparition Point out of the Department of Mysteries.

"Well, we're waiting for our lives to settle down more than anything right now," Harry responded, and then noticed that Patrick had stopped at the Apparition Point.

"You're not going home?" Harry asked, folding his cloak over in his arm. Patrick shook his head.

"No, I have to interrogate the person you just brought in," Patrick responded, "Have a good three days Harry; see you tomorrow night at five."

"Bye Patrick," Harry said, closing his eyes and visualizing the flat he shared with Tonks, Harry felt his body move with a barely audible 'pop.'

Appearing in his kitchen Harry noticed that most of the lights were off, and no one appeared to be home. His instincts told him better though, and he followed them right into the bedroom where he had to stop and stare.

Tonks was standing looking out the window of the bedroom into the rainy night with a hand sewn quilt that matched her medium length light blue hair. Harry felt as if he had fallen in love all over again when she turned around and he watched her face light up.

"LUDDIE!" Tonks said running over to Harry, and grabbing him in a fierce hug that he gladly reciprocated. Nestling her head on Harry's chest, she whispered, "I've missed you so much."

"Me too," Harry replied, running his hand up and down her back, "Guess what?"

"What?" Tonks replied, leaning back and looking into Harry's eyes.

"I made it," Harry said with a big smile, "I'm an Unspeakable now!"

Tonks' face lit up even more, and she pulled his head down and captured his lips in a fierce kiss.

"I love you," Harry said when the parted, kissing her gently again.

"I love you too, Luddie," Tonks said, as she leaned into his embrace again.

"Did you have anything to eat yet?" Harry questioned, still hugging her, and felt her shake her head against his chest.

"No, not yet," was the response that he got.

"Want to go to that new restaurant in the village?" he asked as she slipped out of his embrace.

"Sure," she said with a smile on her face, walking over to her wardrobe to change her clothes.

"Oh, by the way, we're invited to dinner at my family's tomorrow," Harry said, as he walked into the bathroom to make sure his face didn't have any bruises or marks on it.

"Helen just wants to ask when we're getting married then?" Tonks called from the other room, getting a laugh from Harry.

"Yeah, pretty much," he called back, looking at himself in the mirror as 'Harry' for a moment, before stepping back out of the bathroom as 'Ludwig.'

"Ready to go?" Tonks asked, stunning Harry with the long black formfitting dress and curly blue hair that she was wearing. Concentrating for a minute, he shifted his slicked back hair to match the color of Tonks'.

"Now I am darling," Harry responded with a smirk, as Tonks laughed and hooked arms with Harry before the two Apparated away.

**End Chapter**


	7. A Change Of Seasons

**Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory** by **Tradiferis**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything that you do not recognize is most likely mine, everything that you do recognize isn't mine. Onto the story._

Chapter Nine  
A Change Of Seasons

Harry looked at the face that was in front of him as it sneered back at him. He wanted to kick its head off, and he knew for a fact that the face wanted the same. Motioning his hand to the right he smirked when he saw the face follow it. Jutting his leg out, he kicked the face's right kneecap in, and as it fell to the floor he followed it up with a kick to the head, which snapped the face's neck.

Suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder, and without thinking, Harry grabbed the hand's wrist. With one swift motion, Harry pulled the wrist forward and brought his other arm up under the person's elbow, breaking it. He quickly turned around to finish off his assailant, and quickly regretted what he had just done.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" roared Patrick who was currently on the ground holding his, now broken, arm while withering in pain.

"I, er..." Harry stood looking at Patrick, holding the back of his head with one of his hands, "Uh, you needed me for something?"

"The Heads need you," Patrick grounded out, getting himself into a sitting position, "And you better hope that you are out of the country by the time I get this healed."

"No need to worry," Harry said, as he grabbed his outer cloak and ran as fast as he could out of the training center. While he was walking towards the meeting room (which he knew from experience was where you reported to when "the Heads needed you"), he went through a battery of cleaning spells on his body and robes so that he would be presentable to the Heads. As he neared the meeting room, he noticed that the Department of Mysteries looked to be in about near chaos, as hoards of Unspeakables were running around.

'That's odd,' Harry thought to himself; he had never seen the Department looking anything like this before. Heading towards the meeting room, he was stopped by a harried-looking witch.

"ID please," she demanded, giving Harry a very suspicious look. Harry merely raised his eyebrows before pulling his ID card out of his cloak pocket and handing it to the witch who ran her wand over it.

"You can proceed, have a nice day Mr. Waechter," the witch responded, allowing Harry to pass into the meeting room. Walking in he noticed there was as much commotion in the room as there was outside of it.

"Good, you're here," said the Head that was wearing dark green robes, "Everybody, please be seated."

Sitting down in an empty chair, Harry noticed that an unusually high amount of field agents were present. He even recognized a few from assignments that he had been on.

'Why do they need this many specialty agents?' Harry thought to himself as he waited for the heads to start speaking.

"This morning at roughly six when the Dementors at Azkaban were conducting their morning inspection, a cell in the high security area was discovered empty," started the Head that was wearing purple robes, "When the Ministry guards were alerted, it was discovered that the cell that was empty was that of Sirius Black."

When this was said, a chill went through the room. Harry managed to keep a mask of no emotion on his face thanks to his Metamorphmagus abilities, but inside he was going insane.

'SIRIUS GOT OUT?' was being screamed through his head as the Heads went on.

"What we are going to say in this room is NOT to leave, or you will find yourself levied with charges of high treason," the Head with dark green robes continued on, "Whatever you know of Sirius Black, forget it. You are about to re-learn just who he is."

With a flick of his wand, the Head conjured a picture of Sirius as Harry remembered him when he had met him for the first time at the end of his third year that appeared on the wall.

"This is what Mr. Black looks as of three days ago," the purple robed Head said, before flicking his wand, "This is as he appeared three days before his arrest."

Harry looked shocked at the board as he saw a Department of Mysteries ID card appear on the wall _with Sirius on it_.

"Mr. Black was one of our best black ops Unspeakables, and since you know of the loyalty oaths that you must take to work in this Department, we know that Sirius never betrayed the Potters," the green robed Head said, "We couldn't, however, come forth with this information so that Agent Black's cover wasn't blown, which he firmly understands."

With another flick of his wand, the wall was blank once again, and everyone in the room refocused back on the Heads.

"We gathered you in this room because you are some of our best agents, and we need to help Agent Black," the purple robe Head explained, "We are each tasking you with the mission to find Agent Black, and help him out in whatever way you can that WILL NOT draw the Ministries attention. Once you find him and help him, you are to report DIRECTLY back to us to tell us of what you did, along with any information you may receive from Agent Black. It is of utmost importance that you find him quickly, so that the Ministry does not find him first. His cover MUST NOT be blown. You are dismissed, except for Agent Waechter, we need to speak with you for a moment."

Harry waited patiently as the room emptied, till it was just him and the Heads.

"We need someone to go to Azkaban to find out what the Ministry knows so far, and to also find out who is working on their investigation," the Head with the purple robes related to Harry, "Due to your abilities, we feel it would be best if it was you."

The green robed Head gave Harry a folder, saying, "The documentation in here will get you by any obstacles that you come across. Report back to us once you have found Mr. Black Agent Waechter."

"Yes sir," Harry responded, taking the folder then walking out of the room towards his office. Grabbing his briefcase from his office, he put the folder in it before walking to the Apparition point to go back to his flat quickly before heading out to Azkaban.

Arriving at his flat, Harry quickly changed his robes into a set of completely black robes. Looking into his mirror, he changed his facial features around so that he was unrecognizable. He also changed darkened his hair, and changed his eye color. He also took the necessary documents out of his briefcase before putting it in a heavily charmed safe that was in a secret door of his wardrobe.

Walking into the kitchen he took out a piece of parchment and a quill from one of the drawers next to the sink and wrote a quick note.

_'Dora-  
I just was given an assignment that has an unknown time frame on it. I hope to get this done quickly as I know that you're getting your commission next month. Hopefully this won't take that long. As always, check with Patrick if you get worried, he might be able to tell you something. Tell him sorry, too._

_Love,  
Ludwig_

Checking to make sure he had all of his extra wands in place, and that he had all the necessary documentation, Harry Apparated to Azkaban.

When he arrived at the Apparition point, he noticed that the wizarding prison resembled a mad house. Wizards and witches were running around everywhere, and there appeared to be no organization present. Keeping his face blank of emotion, Harry walked towards the high security area. Once he got there, however, the commotion seemed less, as Aurors and Ministry officials were littered all over the wing.

"May I help you?" came a voice to Harry's left as soon as he entered the wing.

Harry looked up and saw what was obviously a rookie Auror, based on how neat and pressed his robes were, plus just how young he looked. Holding out one of the papers that decreed that he was to be given full access to the case, he replied, "I need to speak to whoever is in charge of this mess."

The Auror read over the paper, eyes growing wide as he did, before saying, "Kingsley Shacklebolt is in charge, he is currently in the escapee's cell scanning for clues. He's easy to recognize, he's tall, dark, and has a shaved head."

"Thank you," Harry responded, taking his authorization paper back from the young officer, before following the myriad of officials and Aurors to where the cell that held Sirius obviously was located. When he arrived, he saw that Kingsley Shacklebolt was indeed present, and was the only one in the cell at the moment. He also was just staring at one of the corners.

"May I help you?" came his deep voice after Harry had stood staring at him for a few moments.

"Yes, I need access to all the information that you have found so far," Harry replied, lowering his voice as well. Kingsley stood staring at the corner for a few more seconds before turning around and giving Harry a piercing stare.

"And you would be?"

"The official liaison to the Department of Mysteries," Harry said, not giving up his name, but giving up just enough to appease Kingsley's question. When Kingsley looked skeptical Harry handed over the folder that the Heads had given him.

"In there you will find all the necessary paperwork and decrees giving me access to all the information that you have," Harry commented as Kingsley looked through the paperwork, "You will also find that I am allowed to use force to obtain the information if I feel it is necessary."

"That won't be needed," Kingsley commented, before waving his wand and closing the door on the cell. Harry also put up a soundproofing ward on the cell so that the conversation that was about to take place wasn't overheard.

"What do you know?" Harry asked, directly for the first time.

"We know that Mr. Black must have escaped early this morning between two and five, when the Dementors do not patrol as to allow the inmates a chance to sleep," Kingsley said, then waved Harry over near him, "He escaped through this tunnel, although we are still trying to figure out how he managed to dig, as the inmates are not provided any tools that would allow them to dig as you well know."

Harry examined the tunnel, and saw that he could make out some obvious claw-like marks on the wall of the tunnel, although he surmised that it would be difficult to place the marks unless you knew that Sirius was an Animagus. Looking at Kingsley he asked a question he already knew the answer to, but one he knew he must ask to keep up appearances.

"Was Mr. Black reported as having odd behavior prior to his escape?"

Kingsley looked thoughtful for a moment, before responding, "After the Minister visited two weeks ago Mr. Black was reported by the human guards as becoming slightly unhinged and yelling 'He's at Hogwarts' at all hours of the day and night."

Harry kept his face void of facial expressions as he asked another question he knew the answer to, "Did the Minister come anywhere near Mr. Black while he was here?"

Kingsley answered with the answer he knew he was going to have, "Yes, and he said that Mr. Black was well within his wits, almost eerily so. He even asked for the Minister's copy of the _Daily Prophet_."

Harry, who had been examining the tunnel, snapped his head back up at Kingsley, "He asked for the _Prophet_?"

"Yes."

"Pray tell, did the Minister actually give it to him?" Harry asked, piecing together the puzzle in his head. From the look on Kingsley's face, the wheels were turning as well.

"Yes he did," Kingsley replied, thinking, "He mentioned that Black said something about 'missing the crossword.'"

Harry putting on an act to keep up appearances let his mask 'slip' for a moment, "_Shit_."

"Do you think that Black actually used the residual magic of the newspaper to give him what he needed to tunnel out of the cell?" Kingsley asked, the pieces falling together in his head.

"Well, seeing that Black was basically The Dark Lord's right hand man, it makes sense doesn't it?" Harry responded, silently giving himself a small pat on the back for giving the Ministry Auror's a headache for days to come, "Have your team start to look into all residual magic that matches that exuded by the Prophet. I'm going to go back to my own and set up the search party there."

Harry quickly stood up and walked out of the cell and didn't allow his mask to slip until he had reached the Apparition point on the island. A small smile crossed his features as he Apparated to the Department of Mysteries to inform the Heads what the Auror's were going to be looking for so that they would be able to run interference in case Sirius actually WAS using residual magic.

Half an hour later, Harry was in his office looking at a map thinking, 'Now if I was an escaped convict that was also an Animagus, where would I go?'

Crossing out all areas near Azkaban that were 'high traffic areas,' Harry quickly decided to research the forests that were all within a ten mile radius of the Azkaban Island. Grabbing his 'field satchel,' Harry quickly left his office and Apparated to the first of five areas on his list.

After the third forest, which Harry had decided that was to thickly covered for Sirius to consider using, Harry came upon a forest that wasn't to dense, but at the same time was decent in it's thickness.

'This is a good candidate,' Harry thought to himself as he pulled out his wand and muttered an incantation that would allow him to know if any Animagi were within a mile's radius of where he was. When the tip of his wand glowed a bright red Harry whispered out loud, "Perfect."

Walking forward he ran his wand over the ground looking for any paw prints left by dogs, or any footprints left by a human. After ten minutes of searching, he still hadn't found any prints, but luck seemed to smile on him as he heard a twig snapping in the forest. Quickly pulling his invisibility cloak out of his satchel, Harry huddled himself in the shadow cast by a particularly big tree.

In a few minutes, his searching paid off as a Grim-looking dog walked out of the shadow looking very weary. It also appeared to be slightly soaked to the bone.

'It's him,' Harry thought to himself, trying to keep his composure for this 'reunion' of sorts with Sirius.

Harry watched as the dog maneuvered its way around the roots of the tree before finding a resting space in between two of the biggest roots. Harry just looked at the dog from under his invisibility cloak, observing it as it tried to huddle in on itself to protect itself from the unusually cold summer night. Taking off the cloak Harry walked over to the dog.

"Sirius Black, I presume?" Harry asked in his 'Ludwig' voice, as he knew for a fact that he would be seeing Sirius numerous times, and didn't want to give away who exactly he was. Harry smirked as he saw the dog get an alarmed look on its face, "Yes, I know it's you, Agent Black. You can reveal yourself, unless you prefer for me to do it?"

The dog looked even more startled, before it transformed into Sirius Black, "How do you-?"

"How do I know that you're an Unspeakable?" Harry asked, as Sirius nodded his head in shock, and Harry took out his ID card, "Agent Ludwig Waechter, pleased to meet you."

Sirius took the card and examined it, before handing it back to Harry and saying in a fearful voice, "Are you going to take me back?"

"No," Harry responded, seeing relief wash over Sirius' features, "You're an innocent man, and one of ours. No, I'm here to offer you some assistance."

Sirius looked at him quizzically as Harry reached behind his head to between his shoulder blades and pulled out a wand, and then handed it to Sirius.

"Make sure you do your best to keep your spells to low level magic, so you don't draw the attention of the Ministry, they're currently on the lookout for residual magic of the type that the _Daily Prophet_ lets out," Harry told Sirius as he handed him his satchel, "You'll find a blanket, and enough food to last you for three weeks in here. Just enlarge the capsules."

"Thank you," Sirius responded in a haggard voice, sitting back down and opening up the satchel. Harry looked on in longing, he wished he could just take Sirius into his arms and tell him everything that was going to happen, but he knew that he couldn't. It would be detrimental to the future, something that he couldn't alter without turning the universe on its head.

"Glad to be of service Sirius," Harry said with a slight hitch in his voice, before walking away and Apparating back to the Department of Mysteries.

-

_Harry looked at himself in the mirror, he was trying to get his hair just right. He wanted the night to be absolutely perfect, and he would rather think about whispering sweet nothing to a Lethifold, than to think about what would happen if this night went off with more than a few hitches._

_He had just gotten his blond hair to fall in just the right direction when he saw in the mirror of his wardrobe his least favorite roommate, Adrian Dickinson trying to get his attention._

_"What?" Harry said in a snapping tone. Adrian had seemed to have a problem with Harry ever since he had 'started' at Hogwarts the previous year, mostly due to the fact that Harry was 'stealing' the looks of girls that normally only looked at Adrian. This led to Adrian being really petty, and just a complete arse to Harry his entire sixth year, and now seventh._

_"I-uh," Adrian stuttered, only causing Harry's temper to rise._

_"Spit it out, I'm getting ready," Harry snapped, checking his watch; he still had a good ten minutes before he was to meet Tonks in the common room._

_"It's your girlfriend," Adrian finally got out, "Some girls ruined her dress-"_

_"WHAT?!" Harry yelled, shocked, before calming down and saying, "Are you having me on...?"_

_"No, not over something like this," was Adrian's response, "I was waiting for Angela, when she came down and started gloating about 'what she did to that klutz' and how she never deserved to go to the Ball with you."_

_Harry just looked at Adrian for a second with a calculating look, before grabbing his wand from his table and grinding out, "If I ever find out that you were in on this with your girlfriend-"_

_"Ex-girlfriend, actually," Adrian replied, causing Harry to pause as he was walking for the door, "We may never have gotten along, but what she did was just wrong. It was way beyond petty, it was just callous and mean."_

_Harry's eyebrows shot up into his hairline; he didn't think that Adrian had a moral bone in his body._

_"Listen, Ludwig, you go help your girlfriend, and I'll tell Professor Flitwick what Angela did," Adrian said, making a motion to leave before Harry grabbed his shoulder._

_"You don't need to do that, just go to the ball; there are a thousand other girls that would love to go with you on such short notice."_

_"No, I need to," Adrian responded, "I learned something from you Ludwig from all the times I tormented you and you didn't respond, just rolled with the punches. I learned how to be mature, and now I must do the mature thing."_

_Harry suspected there was more to the story than Adrian was letting on, but he didn't want to scan his mind because he just wanted to get to Tonks as fast as possible. Harry stood speechless for a moment, before rushing off to see if he could get up into the female dormitory. He didn't have to worry as he saw the Fey at the bottom of the stairs._

_"I already got permission from Professor Flitwick for you to go up," she told Harry, "She's in a right state at the moment, I'd be careful..."_

_"You would be in a right state too," Harry muttered to himself under his breath, walking up the step of the Ravenclaw girl's dormitory. As he reached the seventh year's dorm, he heard a muffled crying from within. Taking a deep breath and unconscientiously straightening his robes out, he knocked on the door._

_"'Dora," he asked, "Are you in there?"_

_The only response he got back was more crying. Taking another deep breath he called out, "I'm coming in," before proceeding to do just so. When he got in he saw what had to be Tonks' dress, which was just about ripped to shreds, and discolored from what looked to originally be a deep blue._

_'That little slapper,' Harry thought to himself, before noticing Tonks crying on the bed._

_"'Dora..." Harry said almost to himself as he came upon Tonks, and took her in his arms, "Are you okay?"_

_"She ruined my dress," Tonks said to Harry as he rubbed her back, "That bitch ruined my dress..."_

_Tonks broke out in renewed sob as Harry tried to comfort her, "Hey, it's not the end of the world-"_

_"YES IT IS!" Tonks yelled, beating on Harry's chest, "I was looking forward to going to this with you ever since it was announced, and I spent so much time picking out just the right dress and making sure I had just the right look and for what? NOTHING! All because of that tart and her stupid effing grudges!"_

_Harry knew that Angela Pintfield (as well as a few other girls) had been mad when the 'klutz' had 'nabbed the hottie.' Harry frankly thought that he wouldn't even consider going out with someone so shallow to begin with, which infuriated him even more when they made snide remarks to Tonks, "'Dora, honey, listen. That bitch isn't worth the tears. Everything will work out fine!"_

_"How?" Tonks asked, looking up at Harry with a helpless expression on his face. That look made Harry start for a second, as Tonks NEVER looked that helpless. In that moment he decided that Angela Pintfield had better never even look at him again otherwise he would hex her with the most painful boil curse that he knew, morals be damned. Looking at Tonks as his anger at Angela compounded, a plan started to form in the back of his head._

_"What color was your dress?" Harry asked, standing up and taking a hold of the tattered dress._

_"Deep blue," Tonks whispered, looking at Harry with a puzzled look._

_"Do you have anything that showed what the dress looked like before...this happened?" Harry continued, surveying the dress with a lot of intensity, thinking, 'I am not going to let that tart ruin her evening.'_

_"Yes," Tonks replied, opening a drawer next to her bed, and pulling out a parchment that was the bill of sale for the dress. Included on the bill was a revolving picture of the dress. Harry looked at in intently for a second before holding his hand over the dress. In seconds both the dress and his hand started to glow, before the dress was enveloped in a bright light that lasted for about five seconds. When the light receded, the dress appeared just how it had in the picture._

_"H-How?" Tonks questioned, taking a hold of the dress and looking it over._

_"Put that dress on my dear, and let's give those people something to think about," Harry simply responded, walking out of the room leaving a stunned Tonks in his wake._

-

"There is some strange goings on the European mainland right now," one of the Heads said to Harry after he arrived in their office and was seated, "We need a few of our agents over there to do a little investigating."

"As one of our best Hit Wizards, you are obviously a top candidate for this mission Agent Waechter," the second Head said to Harry, who only nodded, mask of neutrality firmly in place, "Now this mission isn't like any of the other missions that we have sent you on so far."

"This is a long term mission, in the truest sense of the phrase," the first Head told Harry, "The mission would last anywhere between a month and half a year, which is the maximum that we allow our agents to go on, with very few exceptions."

"It would also be a so called "Black on Black" mission," the second Head related to Harry, "Where if you were discovered we would disavow all connections to you, as you would be doing some slightly illegal actions, but we must learn this information, and can't worry about certain legal matters slowing us down."

"As you would be away from your home for a few months, and would be on a mission that could land you in a bad way, we are giving you the option of leaving this room and not remembering a thing about what we just said," the first Head responded, giving Harry a way out. When Harry was in his 'true' sixth year, he might have taken it. This Harry however, had learned better.

"That won't be needed," he responded after a moment, "I will go on this assignment."

"Great," exclaimed the second Head, putting a folder on the desk in front of Harry that was more massive than he was used to seeing for missions, "In this you will find out everything that you will need to know. Information about targets, safe houses, leads, and where to establish a residence and what form of life to lead while on the mission. Your primary base of operations will be out of Essex in Germany, so hopefully you haven't forgotten all of your German speaking skills."

Harry let a smirk creep onto his face as the head winked at him. He stood up and took the folder, and was about to leave when the first Head spoke, "You will not be starting this mission for another week, so we are granting you time off until then. Get your affairs in order Agent Waechter, you will not be attending to them for some time."

Harry nodded his head and walked towards his office, he had a few 'loose ends' that he needed to tie up before he left, and he had to make sure he didn't leave anything in his office that might possibly one day implicate him in a delicate political situation should the Department of Mysteries ever lose it's power.

Walking into his flat nearing six in the evening, he heard some commotion coming from the bedroom. Walking in, he saw Tonks throwing things all over the room.

"My God!" Tonks yelled, taking on of her shoes off and throwing it into her wardrobe, "I'm almost an effing Auror!"

Harry just stood looking at his girlfriend waiting for her to notice him, and also taking in the slightly skimpy dress that she was in, that matched perfectly with her pink hair.

"Young hooligans, my arse," Tonks continued yelling, storming into the conjoined bathroom, before walking back out a moment later, and startling herself when she noticed Harry, "Luddie! Holy hell! You scared me! I thought you were supposed to be at work?"

"I, er...we'll get to that in a moment," Harry said, surveying Tonks in her harried state, "What the hell happened to you?"

Tonks looked murderous for a second, before saying, "Okay, you know how I, since I have the day off, was going to have lunch with Emily and Helen?"

"Ja."

"Well, when I got to the restaurant, the head waiter goes to us," Tonks adopted a posh tone, "'We do not seat your kind in here!'"

"What did you do?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tonks breathed in a moment before continuing, "I asked what he meant by 'your kind' seeing that maybe, SOMEHOW, this guy knew that we were witches, and that it was a muggle only restaurant."

Harry nodded, he'd come upon the type in his travels for the Department of Mysteries in areas where magic was not concealed from muggles due to the high density of magical people in the area. They were rare, but not unheard of - except in Britain.

"Well, the prick says, 'We do not allow young hooligans and street urchins in this fine establishment,' and he had the security escort us out!" Tonks went on, before huffing as she was sitting down on the bed, "Street Urchin! What a fucking tosser, I'm almost an Auror!"

Harry sat down next to Tonks; put his arm around her before asking, "What was the 'fine establishment'?"

Tonks cocked a grin on her face for a second before responding, "That French place near Soho."

Harry raised his eyebrow, "Why would you even consider going there?"

"Helen said that they served good food-" Tonks was cut off by Harry.

"They're the French! They wouldn't know good food if it bit them in the arse while singing 'Oh Come All Ye Faithful!" Harry exclaimed, subtly trying to cheer Tonks up, "I would know too! I've been on one to many missions to that God-forsaken country, and their food is horrible!"

"Well, we were willing to give it a TRY," Tonks emphasized looking not so glum for a moment, before looking downcast again, "But they didn't even give us a chance. The guy just started going on about us being 'street urchins' and 'young hooligans.' I swear, that guy has no idea what I could do to him if he wasn't a muggle..."

That give Harry an idea, "You might not be able to, but I can."

"What do you mean Ludwig?" Tonks asked, looking suspicious while Harry stood up and tapped his wand in an intricate pattern on his wardrobe, revealing a secret compartment that had many 'official' papers in it. Harry thumbed through it for a moment, before pulling a booklet that looked like a passport out of the compartment. Turning around he smiled at Tonks and handed her the booklet.

"You may not be able to do anything to the man," Harry smirked, "But Agent Willem Elias of the MI-6 can."

Tonks opened the booklet and looked wide eyed at the identification that was within, for it portrayed Harry as a member of the MI-6.

"How do you get to have something like that?" Tonks asked in surprise, as Harry pulled her to her feet.

"Trade secret, darling," Harry responded, with a laugh, before surveying Tonks, "Now, get dressed in your most elegant dress, we are going to give that tosser a lesson he'll never forget."

Tonks laughed and proceeded to start to dig through her wardrobe to find the nicest dress that she could find, while Harry got dressed in a muggle business suit.

Ten minutes later, the pair was standing in front of the French restaurant, Tonks with a look of disgust on her face. Harry asked her if the man that had been rude to her and her friends earlier was still working, and after she affirmed that he was, Harry told her, "Now, just follow my lead. And before you ask, yes, what I am doing is perfectly legal."

Tonks giggled slightly before allowing Harry to lead her towards the man, who was looking down at the seating and reservation chart that was in front of him. Harry coughed to get the man's attention.

"May I help you?" the man replied, with a very 'posh' tone. Harry merely smirked.

"Yes, my lady friend here told me that you turned her and her friends away at the door earlier today?" Harry asked in even, almost chipper voice. The man looked from Harry to Tonks, where he stared at her for a moment before his eyes crossed.

"Oh yes, I remember her and her friends," the man responded hotly, "A bunch of tarts that-"

"If you'll excuse me, the _lady_ is standing right here," Harry responded, a bit of anger creeping into his voice, "And the _lady _didnot appreciate what you did to her today."

"What are you going to do?" the other man shot back, with a superior tone in his voice, "Shoot me?"

Harry smirked and reached into his pocket as the waiter's eye started to grow wide, and then spoke to the man in a low voice, "Between you, me, and the fence post...I could."

Harry watched the man's face with much mirth as he extracted his 'identification' out of his pocket, and slid it across the table to the man. He was even more please when the man's eyes grew wider as he read it, before saying in the same low voice as he pulled the booklet back, "Yes, I do have a license to kill, and I have no qualms about using it. Remember that the next time you decide to be rude to a group of our fine _ladies_," Harry leaned back, took Tonks' arm, and then said in his normal voice, "Good day sir!"

After they were out of earshot of the man, Tonks almost broke down crying in laughter.

"That was amazing Luddie," Tonks said sitting down on the bench, shaking with laughter as Harry just stood standing in front of her.

"Well, I hate it when people treat others just based on appearances," Harry said, crossing his arms and looking at Tonks, who was still shaking with laughter, "Well, what do you say we go to that one restaurant in the village? They know us there, and we know the place well."

"Lead the way," Tonks said, before dropping her voice to match Harry's, "_Darrrling."_

Harry laughed at how she rolled the 'r' just the way that he did, before grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder, earning a yelp in response, "Come on you little Nymph."

"Put me down Ludwig!" Tonks screamed from Harry's shoulder as he Disapparated, taking Tonks with him.

Later that night found the pair cuddled up in front of the television watching a show that neither was paying much attention to.

"Oh, I forgot to ask," Tonks said, turning around so that she was facing Harry, "Why did you come home from work early today?"

Harry breathed in and closed his eyes for a second before replying, "I'm being sent on a new mission, 'black on black' from what they tell me."

Tonks closed her eyes before responding, "How long?"

Harry sighed; Tonks didn't like it when he was constantly being sent out on missions since it separated the two of them, "Anywhere from a month to half a year. It all depends on how smoothly the operation goes."

Tonks lifted her head so that it was even with Harry's and put her hands on either side of Harry's neck, "I know that you know that I don't like it when you get sent to all corners of the earth for weeks at a time, so I won't say anything on that. But I will say that I don't care how long it takes as long as you come home safe to me. I love you Ludwig, and I love you enough to give you up so that you can do your job safely and not do something stupid just for my sake."

"I love you too 'Dora," Harry responded, putting his head against Tonks' forehead, "And I promise that I will be careful. I love you too much to do anything that would endanger me from not seeing you again."

As soon as he finished his sentence, Tonks kissed Harry hungrily on the lips, which Harry immediately responded to, causing the kiss to become heated very quickly. After a few minutes, Harry decided that the couch wasn't the best place to continue this activity, so he gathered Tonks in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, laughing with her all the way.

-

Harry looked at his watch, before lighting the cigar that he had in his mouth. Ganzer was more than ten minutes late. Leaning up against the wall with his Notice Me Not charm firmly in place, Harry puffed his cigar so that circles started to form from the smoke.

Running his hand through his scraggily hair that he had adopted so to blend more into the German underground, Harry checked to make sure that one of his wands was firmly in place, resting on his ear. Clenching his true wand in his hand, Harry heard the noise of people approaching. Listening to the pair, he was able to deduce that there were only two men, and that one of them was Ganzer.

As the pair approached Harry listened as the two men sounded worried that Harry would be mad that they were late. Making note of the fact that Ganzer placed a briefcase next to the table that was in the room Harry let himself be known.

"_Good day Mr. Ganzer_," Harry said stepping out of the shadows in a lethal sounding voice, surprising Ganzer and the other man that was with him.

The man that was obviously in charge looked at Harry quizzically before saying, "_I'm sorry, but-"_

_"Money,"_ Harry interrupted in the same tone of voice, and comprehension immediately ran across Ganzer's face.

"_I don't have it._," was the response that Harry got, in a voice that sounded anything but regretful.

Harry shook his head and clucked his tongue before saying, "_Could you do me a favor?_"

Ganzer looked at Harry with a wary look, before looking at his associate and then looking back at Harry, "Ja?"

Harry smiled and then said simply, "_Die."_

In the time that it had taken for the words to registered with Ganzer and his associate Harry had removed his hand (that was holding his wand) from behind his back and shot the Killing Curse at Ganzer before aiming his wand at the associate who was fumbling for his wand.

"_I would not advise that_," Harry said to the main with the lethal tinge to his voice back, surveying the man who was trying to extract his wand.

"_I didn't intend that!_" the man yelled, backing himself up against the wall, panicked, "_I didn't intend that!"_

"_Oh really?_" Harry asked him with a high deal of skepticism in his voice, walking towards the man and putting his wand right up to the man's forehead, "_I don't believe that."_

Harry smirked, and watched as the man started to hyperventilate, before saying, "Stupefy... I'm going to need you for later."

Walking over to Ganzer he removed the man's cloak and inside of it found a parchment that held the meeting points for every member of the Achtung Syndicate, the group that was stirring up trouble on the European mainland, and the root cause of Harry's assignment. Harry smiled, this would reduce his work, and would possibly allow him to go home.

Harry grabbed the briefcase that was sitting next to the table, and with his wand opened it. Inside he found the money that was of question, smirking, "Knew he was a lying bastard."

He was about to pick up the associate when a lump in the robes of Ganzer caught his attention. Emptying the pocket that the lump was formed in Harry found a necklace that was vaguely familiar, and very intricate looking. Deciding to just pocket it and examine it later, Harry lifted the associate onto his shoulder and then Apparated to the safe house that the Department of Mysteries had set up for the central base of the mission.

**End Chapter**


	8. The Walls of Jericho

**Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory** by **Tradiferis**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything that you do not recognize is most likely mine, everything that you do recognize isn't mine. Onto the story._

**Chapter Ten  
The Walls of Jericho**

Harry sat in his darkened kitchen at the safe house just staring at the object on the table. It reminded him of something, he just couldn't place what it was at the moment.

'Figures, anytime I need to remember anything pertaining to my life I instantly forget about it,' he thought to himself, looking at the object. Tilting his head to the side he took in its sleek nature, and the vial that it held on it.

"What do you mean to me?" Harry asked the necklace, racking his brain for what it was he remembered this necklace from. Sighing, he leaned back in the chair and wondered what Gwen and Stacy were doing. He hadn't seen his 'sisters' since before they had started at Hogwarts. Reaching into his pocket he took out a 'family' picture that had been taken during that first Christmas vacation at Patrick's. Searching out their childish faces he smiled as he watched the pair jump on his back and the three of them laughed.

Suddenly, a glistening in the picture caught his attention. Waiting for the picture to recycle through again, he watched the twin girls jump on his back, and then saw something glisten from around his neck. It was a vial...a vile attached to a necklace!

Harry quickly put the picture back in his pocket and reached out onto the table to grab the necklace. This was the necklace that Ludwig had given to him!

"Or that I give to myself," Harry mused to himself under his breath. Holding the necklace eyelevel, he stared at the vial that was attached to the end. This was the necklace that had truly allowed him to gain power, knowledge and do things that he would never have had any chance of doing before.

"But what is your secret," Harry asked aloud staring into the vial, whose dark blue color seemed to go on forever. Setting the necklace back down on the table Harry walked across the room, grabbed his satchel, and emptied its contents on the table. Moments later, Harry had found what he was looking for among the many shrunk objects: a miniaturized bowl.

Muttering an enlargement charm while waving his hand over the bowl, he watched it enlarge into his Pensieve. Concentrating on his memories of what happened when he met 'himself' in his pensieve; Harry held his wand up to his forehead and extracted a white strand. Placing it in the bowl, he stirred it around until the memory was playing itself in the bowl.

"Why do I have a bad idea about this?" Harry asked himself as he held the necklace in front of him. Thinking back to a mission he had been on when he had learned a wealth of knowledge about chanters and their backwards talking, he remembered a spell that was used for entwining a memory to an object so that it could be passed down from generation to generation, "I hope this works..._Seye Ym Hguorht Ees!_"

Instantly, the vial shone with pulsating blue light. Remembering the second part of the spell, Harry once again pushed the foreboding thoughts out of his mind, as he placed the vial in the Pensieve and put the tip of his wand into the bowl as well, "_Rehtegot Evil Won!_"

All seemed to go right as the bowl and its contents started to glow a bright red color. Suddenly, the color shifted to dark red, and the pulsating got larger and larger. Harry started to feel the energy in the room start to swirl near the pensieve, and found that he couldn't remove the necklace from the bowl.

"Shit," was the last words out of his mouth. The bowl imploded and a bright white light flashing through the room the room were the last things Harry saw before he blacked out.

Harry opened his eyes to a bright white light that was nearly blinding, causing him to squint. Suddenly, the light died down and he could see clearly once again. Taking in his surroundings he saw that he was in a room that was completely white, and seemed to stretch out for miles.

"Where am I?" Harry asked to himself.

"You are nowhere and everywhere at once Harry."

Harry whirled around and pulled his wand at the voice that had come from behind him, only to drop it once he saw who it was.

"No, no, how can you be here?" Harry asked the source of the voice, staring at it in disbelief, "You died in my timeline, and are still alive in this one! It's impossible!"

"One thing I learned after I died Harry James was that _nothing_ is impossible," Hermione Granger told Harry, who had fallen to his knees.

"How?" Harry asked looking upon one of his best friends, who he had not seen in many years. Due to the fact that she was _dead_.

"That's something that I can't answer, for the ability to understand death does not manifest itself until we ourselves are dead," Hermione answered, walking towards Harry, "But I can say that I was sent here because someone thought that you needed a little bit of help and understanding to guide you in your coming trials. Now stand up, I've never known you to go down on your knees before, and you aren't going to start now Harry Potter."

Harry stood up, looked at Hermione for a moment, before enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug, whispering, "I've missed you so much."

"I know, so have I," was the teary response that he got. After standing hugging each other for a few moments that seemed all to short, Hermione pulled away from Harry and looked him right in the eyes, "I'm sorry to cut this short, but there is much that you need to know."

Harry watched as Hermione walked over to a table that had recently appeared, and picked up an object that was on it. The necklace.

"You were wondering how to work this right?" Hermione asked Harry, with a questioning look.

"Yes, I need that necklace made, it's important to my development into who I am," Harry responded, walking over to where Hermione was.

"And you couldn't work the correct magic?" Hermione asked holding the necklace as if surveying a head of lettuce, "No you wouldn't know, you wouldn't know the magic required, it's much too ancient and forgotten."

Harry watched as Hermione got a smile on her face, "But I do know how to do it. Come here Harry."

Harry obeyed and walked over to Hermione, who slipped the necklace onto Harry, and then held her hand onto Harry's forehead, looking into Harry's eyes.

"You might find this funny, but I've spent much of my infinite time here researching," Hermione said with an embarrassed smile, causing Harry to grin as well. "As you can imagine, there is such a vast amount of knowledge that mere mortals are not allowed to have access to, just for what they would be able to do with them. However, we are here for a reason, so I must surmise that you are to be given a one time pass for access to some of this knowledge."

Hermione smiled at Harry, who smiled back, before Hermione placed two of her forefingers on Harry's temple.

"I want you to concentrate on your training Harry, concentrate really hard," Hermione said in a soft voice, "Try to imagine every detail as vividly as you can."

Harry could barely nod his head before a searing pain ripped through his head, but it was unlike any pain that he felt from his scar. This pain seemed to come from the _center_ of his brain, and it only seemed to be continually growing wider and wider until he felt that his brain was going to go the way of his Pensieve.

"Just a little bit longer Harry," Hermione whispered to Harry in a soothing voice, placing her free hand on his shoulder in a comforting motion. Harry tried to concentrate on her touch, but the pain in his head was threatening to overtake him. Just when he thought it was too much, the pain ceased, and Hermione was talking once again, "I wish you could stay longer, but I'm afraid that our time together has once again come to an end. You must remember Harry, you have what it takes to win, you just need to use it."

"Will I ever see you again?" Harry asked, trying to hold himself together as he watched Hermione start to fade away.

"Someday, dear Harry," Hermione responded, looking up with tears in her eyes, "Don't forget, I am happy here. My purpose is better served were I am, never forget that. I'll see you on that fateful day when you close your eyes for the last time Harry James Potter..."

"Goodbye Hermione," Harry whispered as Hermione faded back into non-existence. Suddenly, Harry's eyelids started to feel really heavy, and he was about to close them when pain surged through his body, and the world turned on end. When it finally stopped turning, he noticed he was on the floor of the safe house with a medi-witch standing above him.

"Herr Waechter! Herr Waechter!" Harry heard the witch yelling down at him. Blinking his eye a few times, and shaking his head he looked down in his hand and the necklace was slightly glowing in it. Blinking his eyes again, he watched as the necklace ceased to glow. Looking back up, he saw that the medi-witch was still yelling at him, "Herr Waechter! Können Sie mich hören?" _Mr. Waechter! Mr. Waechter! Mr. Waechter! Can you hear me?_

"Yes, yes," Harry responded, shaking his head again, surveying his surroundings. He was very disorientated, his ears were ringing, and he felt as if he had been trampled by a heard of hippogriffs. The room itself looked as if a muggle bomb had detonated in it. The windows were all shattered, and a portion of the wall looking out into the street was missing. He looked back up and noticed another wizard was in front of him.

"Mr. Waechter?" Harry shook his head, "I am Dr. Berringer of the British Magical Ambassador's office. Do you know what happened?"

Harry was interrupted by a familiar voice coming up from behind Berringer, "A muggle bomb was set off by the group our agent was currently investigating."

"And you are?" Berringer asked as he turned around to take in a man wearing purple robes.

The first part of what the purple-robed man said was cut off by the ringing in Harry's ears, but he heard, "Co-Head of the Department of Mysteries. What can you tell me about Agent Waechter?"

"He is suffering from a major concussion, and while I can remove the effects from it, I'm worried that if I do, it will counteract with the healing spells we used on his body," Berringer stated, before adding, "I'm also not to sure he would be able to handle the pain."

Harry blinked his eyes, as Berringer was talking the world kept on going in and out of being blurred. Blinking his eyes again, Harry heard the purple-robed co-Head of the Department of Mysteries talking.

"-will be taking him with me," he was saying, "I will be able to take care of him. Now my assistant will handle any questions that you have. Ludwig?"

Harry looked up, seeing a hand being offered to him, which he took.

"We are going back to the Department. Close you eyes, and imagine yourself in your office. Can you do that for me?"

Harry nodded his head, and closed his eyes. Moments later, he imagined himself in his office, although he found it hard to focus.

"Good, here we go," and with that, Harry felt the effect of Apparition overtake his body. Seconds later, he felt a hand on his forehead, and the co-Head was speaking again, "I am going to perform a spell on you Harry, and I need you to keep your eyes closed. You will feel a sharp pain throughout your body, but if you can fight your way through the pain, the effects of your concussion will be lifted, and then we can deal with your other minor injuries. Ready? Now concentrate on fighting your way through the pain..."

Harry heard what he thought he recognized as a Greek spell, but couldn't think anymore in his already addled mind when he felt his body become enveloped in pain once again. Remembering what the co-Head told him, he concentrated as well as he could, and within seconds he could feel his mind un-clouding, and the pain leaving his body. Opening his eyes, he looked up at the co-Head who was smirking.

"Feeling better? Good, we have an urgent mission for you to go on," he related to Harry, "Sirius Black was uncovered at Hogwarts, and is currently trying to escape on a Hippogriff, but as you can guess even with that wand you gave him, he's not going to be getting far. Since you were the one that made contact with him last time we felt it was only right that you go to him once again. What are you waiting for? Get moving!"

Harry shook his head to get the remaining cobwebs out as the co-Head walked out of his office.

'It must be the end of third year,' Harry thought to himself, pulling a map out of his desk drawer that contained all of Europe. Running his wand over it, he muttered a spell that would locate on the wand's signature that he gave Sirius. He got the man's exact location. Pausing briefly to deposit the necklace in a charmed safe, Harry grabbed a small book that was on his desk, and a cloak out of his office's wardrobe. He Apparated to the location that Sirius was at.

He instantly found himself four feet behind a walking Sirius, who was leading Buckbeak the Hippogriff by the chain on his neck. Muttering a spell under his breath he watched as the great beast slumped over to the ground. Sirius whipped around instantly going to draw the wand, but Harry already had his wand trained at Sirius' head.

"Can you answer me one quick question Mr. Black?" Harry asked Sirius, who looked at him with a defeated look on his face.

"Seeing as how you have me at wand point I think I am inclined to do so."

"Did you really think that a flying hippogriff would go unnoticed?"

"Well, as a matter of fact...yes, I did."

Harry shook his head, as smart as his Godfather was; he had this mighty knack of not thinking all the way through with lot of problems. Case in point being the current one where Harry had to quite literally break five Ministry statues to make sure Sirius wasn't caught by the Aurors and Hit-Wizards looking for him. Taking his head out of his hand, Harry looking back up at Sirius, "I'm doubting that you remember who I am?"

Sirius shook his head, looking at Harry warily.

"Well, gosh darn," Harry said, then shifting his voice down to what it was when he had met Sirius, "I would have enjoyed a simple thank you for the wand."

"How...you're a Metamorphmagus," Sirius said with recognition dawning on his face. Harry smirked slightly.

"Right in one," Harry replied with a small amount of mirth in his voice, before switching to a more serious one, "However, we need to get you out of this country. The Ministry is not going to be fooled by simple misdirection, we need to get you out, and we need to get you out now."

"Where are you suggesting I go?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrow, "As you know, there aren't many places I can go with my face being as well known as it is, and with the hippogriff to boot."

"Already thinking ahead of you," Harry replied, pulling the small book out of his pocket.

"_Low Rent Flats of Europe_?" Sirius asked, reading the title a bit incredulously, "How is that going to help?"

"Because it isn't what it seems," Harry responded opening up to the section of the book marked 'Greece', "This is a listing of all the safe houses in Europe, and their current state. We're going to Greece, hope you like the beach."

Grabbing onto Sirius, he swept his wand around while muttering a strong Apparition charm that he had learned in his training to be an Unspeakable. Harry noticed Sirius shudder slightly as the power of the spell swept over their bodies. Imagining the basement of the safe house that he had once used, Harry blinked his eyes and in the next instant found himself, Sirius, and Buckbeak in that very same basement.

"I haven't felt that spell since I was taken to Azkaban," Sirius muttered under his breath, before Harry conjured a chair for him to sit down in.

"Now, you need to make sure you do your best to stay in this safe house as much as possible, until you are contacted by someone from the Department," Harry said, before conjuring himself up a chair. He was starting to feel the effects of the concussion he had come back to him. Turning back to Sirius, he said, "If you must leave the house, use a mild transfiguration charm on yourself. Don't worry about the wand signature being traced, Greece doesn't check."

"Thank you for everything you've done for me," Sirius said, causing Harry's heart to turn.

'You'll never know how much you've done for me,' Harry thought to himself, before standing up. He needed to get himself away from Sirius before he did something overly stupid. Looking at Sirius he said, "I'm sorry, but I have to be going..."

"Don't worry about it," Sirius remarked, reaching out to Harry's hand, and firmly grasping it, surprising Harry a little, "You've done a lot for me. You look like hell to, so go home and fix up those robes."

Harry chuckled looking down at his robes, which were ripped from the explosion at the safe house in Germany. Starting to turn around, he looked back at Sirius one last time before saying, "Before I go, is there any message that you want me to pass onto anyone? Any family members?"

"Yes," Sirius said, "Er...tell Andromeda Tonks and her family that I miss them, especially little Nymphadora."

A look of slight shock flashed over Harry's face, but he quickly reined it in, saying to Sirius, "Very well. Good day."

Making a mock gesture of tipping his hat, Harry turned around, and muttered the same Apparition spell that had brought him to where he was, but thinking of his office this time and the bottle of vodka that should still have been in the bottom drawer of his desk.

-

"I see that you have requested that you be posted near Hogwarts as an oversight for the tentative Tri-Wizard tournament?" asked the co-Head who was wearing bright green robes. Harry, who was standing with his back nearly ramrod straight, nodded his head.

"You just recently ended an assignment that not only kept you on assignment for longer than the six-month maximum, yes?" the other co-Head, questioned, before adding, "You also received massive head trauma, and then immediately helped out with the Sirius Black situation as well, correct?"

Harry again nodded, feeling that his plan to stay close to Hogwarts during his fourth year was starting to slip through his hands.

"Then what the hell are you still doing on active duty?" the bright green robed co-Head asked with an astonished tone in his voice, "Did you fill out the paperwork for a decompression period?"

"No, I didn't feel it was needed," Harry responded, thinking that this would not go over well. He was right, it didn't.  
  
"Well, looks like you are going to be put on a month of decompression," the green robed co-Head said, pulling a paper out of a stack on his desk, filling out a few bits of information on it, signing it, and then passing it to the other co-Head, who also signed it.  
  
"If you even think of coming back here within a month, or doing anything remotely related to anything that has to do with your job, including being within a fifty mile radius of Hogwarts," the second co-Head told Harry, "You will be investigating the fecal matter of flobberworms for the next year, you hear me Agent Waechter?"  
  
Harry noticed the slight smile on his superiors faces, responding, "Of course, sir."  
  
"Good, now go home and report to your girlfriend, help out your parents, get your sisters ready for school," the green robed co-Head told Harry, patting him on the shoulder and leading him out of the office, "Also, tell Patrick on your way out that we have a lead for him on the Stockholm project."  
  
"Yes sir," Harry replied, before walking to his office. He needed to remove a few sensitive materials from it before he left on his mandatory vacation.  
  
'I should have guessed I wasn't going to be allowed to go anywhere near Hogwarts,' Harry thought to himself as he de-spelled his door, and then locked it again magically once he was inside his office, 'I obviously didn't show up anywhere near Hogwarts when I was in my fourth year, so I obviously don't belong there.'  
  
Waving his hand to stun a folder that was about to bite him, he put it into his briefcase and left his office in order to find Patrick.

-

_Harry was walking towards the Great Hall after a very restless sleep. Voldemort seemed to be very angry at something and images kept slipping through Harry's mental barriers that he had worked so hard over the summer and during the school year with Professor Dumbledore to strengthen. As he was about to enter he heard someone calling to him from behind._

_"HARRY!" came the shouted voice, and as he turned around, Harry was able to see that it was Hermione._

_"Hi," Harry said as she came running up holding what looked to be the Daily Prophet._

_"HARRY! I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been?" Hermione questioned, quite out of breath._

_Harry raised his eyebrow and responded, "Walking down to here? What's the matter?"_

_Hermione blushed for a second, as it seemed she hadn't thought that Harry would actually be walking down to the Great Hall at this time, "Have you seen today's Prophet?"_

_"No," Harry responded, keeping his eyebrow raised, "I haven't yet run into you, have I?"_

_"Oh," Hermione said, before thrusting the paper into Harry's hands, "Read it!"_

_Harry shook his head, sighing, before looking down at the paper. When he did, the headline caused his other eyebrow to join his raised one:_

**_LESTRANGE FOUND DEAD_**

_Bellatrix Lestrange was found today impaled on a pole and eviscerated of most of her vital organs in front of the entrance of Knock-Turn Alley. It is unknown how one of The Dark Lords most prominent Death Eaters ended up in such a state. The only clues that the Aurors have to work with is the finding of the coordinates of Sirius, the Dog Star, carved onto her forehead by what appeared to be a very precise instrument._

_"While the Ministry is happy that Mrs. Lestrange is no longer at large, the Ministry also can not condone the way the she met her ultimate demise," Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt told the Daily Prophet, "We are asking all those that may have any information to please come forward."_

_Bellatrix Lestrange rose to gruesome notoriety for being among those to torture Frank and Alice Longbottom to the point of insanity..._

_Harry looked up at Hermione with an odd look on his face. He was glad that the scum that was Bellatrix Lestrange was nevermore, but she did seem to have died in a rather violent state. Giving himself pause, he realized that he wouldn't have had it any other way._

_"Good," Harry said, adopting a hard expression upon his face. While he could take pause when some people died, when scum like Bellatrix Lestrange took their final gasp, he was beyond caring._

_"Harry! But she died-"_

_"In a way that she richly deserved," Harry cut her off, still not coming to terms with her extreme pacifism, "Now, have you eaten breakfast yet, or did you skip out on that?"_

-

Harry could only compare the pandemonium that was occurring in the Department of Mysteries to when Sirius had escaped from Azkaban roughly two year previous. He didn't need to guess what had happened this time. The scar that was on his arm in his natural arm was proof enough. Voldemort was back, and now the Ministry was going to go into overdrive to deny it. He just wondered what the Department was going to do, as he knew that they did not always follow along with what the Ministry held as truth, and at times even misled the Ministry.

Walking into his new office, as he had just been promoted to a Fourth Class Unspeakable, he noticed that a spelled letter was waiting for him on his desk that was from the Department's outside mail service, he spelled his door shut before sitting down and propping his feet up on his desk. Grabbing the letter he saw that it was from Albus Dumbledore:

_Dear Mr. Waechter-  
As you've no doubt heard, there are rumors going around about a certain person returning. I can assure you, as you likely know yourself, that these rumors are true. I would like to speak to you myself concerning these matters as soon as you get a chance. If you wish to get past the stone goliath, presenting him with Cockroaches will suffice.  
- A. Dumbledore_

'That's odd,' Harry thought to himself, 'He didn't sign with all the pomp and circumstance that he usually does.'

Looking at his desk, he saw that he had a bevy of paperwork that he could finish later in the day, so he de-spelled his door and went to exit the Department. On his way out he made sure to stop by his Class' secretary, Tiffany Rightwell.

"If anyone comes looking for me tell them I'm out for the morning," Harry told her.

"Any idea on where you're going?" Tiffany asked, not looking up from filing her nails. In the short time that Harry had known the young woman he had come to the conclusion that nothing could faze her.

"If they have to know, tell them I'm at Hogwarts, but only if it's a dire emergency," Harry related, and then before he walked away, "Thanks Tiff."

"Don't call me that," Harry heard her say as he walked away and reached the Apparition point. Seconds later he was in Hogsmeade.

Walking towards the gates of Hogwarts he noticed that the grounds seemed to be in a great disarray. When he arrived at the gates, he saw that Argus Filch was waiting at them.

"Dumbledore told me that he was expecting you," the morose caretaker of Hogwarts told Harry, allowing the gates to open by pressing on a stone in the one of the towers that supported the gates.

"Very well," Harry replied, a little bit uneasy. He never was truly comfortable when he was in the presence of the man.

"I see you've amounted yourself to something, unlike some of the other miscreants that you graduated with," Filch told Harry, with a slight sneer. Harry merely raised an eyebrow.

"Duly noted," Harry replied, praying that the door to the Castle would come quicker.

"Are you still with that tart?" Filch pressed on, only causing Harry's ire to raise even more. Luckily they were now at the doors to the castle.

"Don't you have some magic to not be able to do?" Harry asked the squib with only a hint of malice in his voice. Filch just looked at Harry shocked, before hurrying away looking ashamed. Glad to be rid of the grating man, he walked up to Dumbledore's office, and when he reached the stone gargoyle, he merely said, "Cockroach Clusters."

The gargoyle spun out of his way, and he started to walk up the stairs towards Dumbledore's office. When he reached the top of the stairs he heard the voice of the last man he wanted to hear at this time: Cornelius Fudge.

"I'll have you know Dumbledore this is the last straw! I will not take it from you anymore!" the clueless man was saying. Harry merely sighed to himself; he couldn't believe how inept this man was.

"I told you already Cornelius that we have reached a parting of the ways, and now if you will excuse me I have another meeting that I must be getting to," the calm and slightly forceful voice of Dumbledore said. Harry knocked on the door, and opened it, to the slightly delighted face of Dumbledore, "Ah, Mr. Waechter, so nice to see you again."

Harry saw that the Minister was giving him a slightly calculating look, "Don't you work in the Department of Mysteries?"

"Yes, Minister," Harry said, holding his hand out to Fudge, who not surprisingly didn't take it, "Agent Ludwig Waechter, Unspeakable Fourth Class."

"Er...yes," Fudge said, before walking out of Dumbledore's office, trying his hardest to slam the heavy door behind him. Dumbledore sighed, before waving his wand and having the door calmly and quietly close.

"How are you today, sir?" Harry asked Dumbledore, as he rounded his desk and sat down.

"Slightly tired," Dumbledore replied looking down and sighing for a moment, before looking up and asking, "Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you," Harry replied, wondering why Dumbledore had called him to Hogwarts.

"I'm glad that you decided to come here, I have some sensitive information to go over with you," Dumbledore paused a second, before adding, "Mr. Potter."

Harry smirked slightly, before letting his features change into their natural state, "I can assure you that I remember, in excruciating detail, what that sensitive information is."

"Ah, but not all of it," Dumbledore replied with an air of wisdom, "Thus is the fallacies of time travel."

Harry waited for Dumbledore to get around to his point, he realized as he went on with his life that this was one of the many things that he didn't like about Dumbledore: it usually took him many a moment to arrive to his point. Indeed, he was now just arriving to the reason for calling Harry.

"As you know, the Minister isn't admitting to the return of Voldemort, but as you probably know, I am in the process of acquiring a group of people to oppose Voldemort's forces," Dumbledore related to Harry.

"The Order of the Phoenix," Harry answered back, nodding his head.

"Yes, that's correct," Dumbledore responded, picking up a stone from the desk, "I would like for you to be part of it. We need someone inside the Department of Mysteries, and someone with as much clearance as you do within the Ministry to help us get around some, technicalities...shall we say."

"I would be glad to join," Harry responded, looking into Dumbledore's eyes, "I will give you as much help that I can."

"Thank you, Harry." Dumbledore said to Harry, walking over to him and giving him the stone. "As we can not yet come out into the public eye, we must remain as clandestine as possible. Therefore, whenever you are needed, or I need to be in contact with you, this stone will heat up. When you feel it heat up, think of a Phoenix, and you will be instantly portkeyed to a location that I have keyed into the rock. I will be giving more information to you shortly, but just know that I truly appreciate this help Harry."

"Just about anytime Headmaster," Harry replied, getting up to leave, before being stopped by Dumbledore momentarily.

"How is Ms. Tonks doing, if I may ask?" the Headmaster inquired.

"Good, she became a full fledged Auror earlier in the year. She's mad about me being away so often on assignment though," Harry said with a slight smirk, before making a 'tip of the hat' gesture to Dumbledore, "By your leave, sir."

"Of course, child."

-

"I don't know how to say this, but we've been ordered by the Minister to send you on loan to the Congo, to help with getting the magical community under control," the yellow robed co-Head told Harry with a frown on his face.

"When do I leave?" Harry asked, having a sneaking suspicion for why he was the one that was being sent.

"The portkey is set to leave in an hour. Give all of your case files to Tiffany, we'll find some way for them to be completed," the second co-Head told Harry, also with a frown on his face.

"Yes, gentlemen," Harry responded, flexing and un-flexing his hands besides him, "Anything else I need to know?"

"Don't repeat this to the anyone, but we are working out a deal to get you closer to home," the yellow robbed co-Head said, leaning towards Harry, "We can't afford to have our best agent in the middle of nowhere with these..._uncertain_...times."

"Of course, gentlemen," Harry responded, with a small smirk.

"Be here at three, your portkey will be ready then, pack light, you can have more sent along later," the second co-Head told Harry, who nodded, and got up to leave the room.

"Before you go," the yellow robed co-Head called after Harry, "You might be interested to find out that Switzerland is holding a nice surprise for you when you get the opportunity to check it."

Harry only nodded his head before he left the office. He had an hour before he was leaving for a time that was unspecified all because of an idiot.

'I doubt they would even consider it treason,' Harry thought darkly, de-spelling his door. Nothing could be left in this office, not with Fudge acting the way he was already.

-

Two weeks later found Harry in a mining shaft covered from head to foot in dirt. Rebels had been hiding in the mines while trying to overthrow the magical government, and as such they were hard to find. Harry was helping fight their guerilla tactics by using some of his own. At the moment, he was blending in with the rebels while trying to find this sect's leader. A single well placed spell and he could expedite being sent home from this place.

Harry's stone that he had received from Professor Dumbledore had heated up once so far, but because of the mission he was on he couldn't respond. He had sent Edgar to Dumbledore with a letter of apology, but had yet to receive any response. Edgar hadn't even returned, although he didn't blame the raven. He felt as if he had entered the Seventh Layer in his current station. He was about to enter a cable shaft to slide down when an Auror of the Congo came running into the tunnel. Shifting his appearance to appear as himself, he waited for the Auror.

"Agent Waechter?" the Auror asked. Harry nodded his head, his face void of expression as he waited for the man to go on, which he did, "My superiors just told me that you are to report to them immediately, you are to be sent out of the Congo by your country."

"Thank you," Harry said with a small smile, walking past the man, and towards the exit of the cave. He was almost to the exit when his foot became lodged on something, and his innate clumsiness (that he had thought he had finally gotten under control) acted up and he ended up face first on the floor of the cave. Cursing silently to himself, and thanking whatever deity was listening for putting a silencing charm on himself, he looked to see what he had tripped over. When he did, he was mesmerized.

'I don't think I've ever seen a diamond that big before,' Harry thought to himself, picking the stone up, and examining it. It was as close to transparent as any diamond he had ever seen, and he knew that he had to have found this stone out of more than just coincidence, looking up into the sky and thinking, 'Are you all trying to tell me something?'

Getting himself up and dusting his robes off as best he could, he continued to walk out of the cave, and when he felt the wards dissipate, he Apparated to the Congo Auror's Headquarters. Walking as quickly as he could, he made his was to Jahre Gudmensen's office, the head Auror for the Magical Congo. Knocking on the man's door and hearing a voice telling him to enter, he walked in.

"You sent for me, sir?" Harry asked the man, who was in his late eighties, and had obviously seen better days.

"Yes, I just received word from your government that you are to leave the country immediately as a more pressing assignment has come up that you are needed for," Gudmensen told Harry, with a tone of voice that clearly dictated that he did not want Harry to leave, "When you have gathered up your belongings, report back here, your portkey will be waiting."

"Yes sir," Harry replied with a stoic expression on his face, although inside he was cheering. He turned and left the office; he was going to do the fastest packing job he had ever done in his life.

-

"As you can see sir, we offer extreme privacy, no one is allowed to even come into the building that isn't a tenant, and you can only gain access to this place as a guest if you have first submitted yourself to a thorough body search," a man was telling Harry, who was dressed as a rich muggle business man.

"How much is the monthly rent, again?" Harry asked, surveying the living area. It wasn't as spacious as his flat in London, but it would serve its purpose.

"360 francs," the man replied, with a slightly haughty look on his face.

"Perfect, where do I sign?" Harry responded, turning around and looking at the man flat in the face.

"Ah, Mr. Elias, you forget that we do not have our tenants do that," was the response that Harry got, "We merely ask for your fingerprint, and your bank account number. I'm assuming that you have a Swiss?"

"You would assume right," Harry replied, slightly altering his fingerprints, he didn't want _anything _tracing him back to this place of residence.

"Ah, even better, now just come this way and we will set everything up," the man told Harry, leading him out of the flat and towards the buildings office.

Three hours later found Harry sitting down in the living room of his new flat. With the money that the co-Heads of the Department of Mysteries had set up for him in a muggle Swiss bank account, he had been able to purchase a residence that was 'off the grid,' something that was essential in his line of work. As much as 'safe houses' were considered safe, they never truly were because almost every agent knew where they were, and if they ever were forced into having loose lips, it could be potentially fatal to the agent that was actually using the safe house. That's why the Department of Mysteries always gave their best agents the money to set up their own personal 'safe houses.'

Thinking of his current employers, he sighed. Yes, he was taken out of the Congo, but he was told to immediately report to the Swiss Ministry of Magic, as they were having a small crisis with Dark Magic, and had asked the British Ministry if they had any people that were extremely skilled at Dark Magic, and countering it. The co-Heads of the Department of Mysteries had instantly volunteered him, so that he would be closer to England, and would be able to report back easier as he had the ability to Apparate straight from Switzerland if necessary.

Putting his hands in his pockets, he felt the diamond that he had found in the Congo.

'I miss Tonks,' Harry thought to himself. He hadn't seen the love of his life in over a month, and was really starting to miss her. Pulling the stone out of his pocket, he decided that he should see if he could get it set into a ring, 'I am asking her to marry me as soon as I get back to Britain.'

-

"Arthur Weasley was just attacked?" Harry asked the head of Dumbledore, which was currently in the fireplace of temporary residence in the American Wizarding Government's capital of Salem, his third stop on his world tour of spite from Fudge.

"Yes, it is slightly serious, although the doctors at St. Mungo's feel that he should heal nicely," Dumbledore related to him, looking slightly grave, "I am sending Nymphadora to escort young Misters Potter, Weasleys, and young Misses Granger and Weasley to St. Mungo's in the morning. Would you be able to help, I am starting to run short on extra hands?"

Harry sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. As much as he would love to come back to England for the holidays, he was to tangled up in work, and couldn't give Fudge the impression that he was aiding Dumbledore, "I'm sorry Albus, but between the treacle and the paper, work is just pressing down on me. Even in this holiday season."

"I understand," Dumbledore responded, looking as if he actually did understand.

"Headmaster? Would you please tell Tonks that I miss her, and that I love her?" Harry asked of his former headmaster. He had not seen Tonks for two months now, only being able to briefly see her when he had been switched from helping the Swiss government to helping the American one on Fudge's orders.

"Of course Ludwig," Dumbledore answered, "Have a good Christmas."

"You to sir," Harry answered, watching Dumbledore's head disappear with a pop. Leaning back into the chair that he was sitting in, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a box that he had been keeping in it at all times. Opening it up he saw the diamond he had found in the Congo, set into a ring from his time in Switzerland. He missed Tonks, but he was able to get through his estrangement from her by thoughts of the love they shared, and the hope that one day he would be able to make her his forever...

Three months later Harry was still in America, doing largely 'diplomatic' work for the British Ministry of Magic. He never thought that Fudge was this incompetent, to have one of the best Unspeakables in the business doing work that any politician could do, but he just put it down to the massive ineptness the man possessed. Looking down at his breakfast, he sighed. He longed to go back to England, but was starting to feel as if he never would.

He was about to leave the cafe area of the British Consulate when an aide came running up to his table, speaking in a hurried voice, "Mr. Waechter! Sir! There is a package that just arrived for you!"

"That's nice, where is it?" Harry responded, hoping it wasn't another file of useless reports sent over by Fudges office.

"The mail room sir!" the eager young aide responded. Harry muttered his thanks, and left for the mail room. When he arrived he saw a bunch of the clerks sitting around reading something. Harry coughed to get their attention, and one of the clerks looked up.

"Oh! Er..." the clerk looked at Harry, then down at the object that held all of the other clerk's attention.

"Do you always look at everyone's private mail?" Harry asked, with frown on his face. The clerk, rightfully so, looked abashed picking up what was a newspaper and handing it to Harry. Wondering why someone had sent a newspaper, he looked at it and instantly smiled. It was _the Quibbler_ that held his interview with Rita Skeeter in it. Smiling at the clerk shocked looking clerk, he walked out of the mail room with a slight bounce in his step. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be needed in America for much longer anymore.

He was right. Waking up on a morning late in June to his door being banged on quite loudly, he went over to answer it. When he did, he was surprised to see one of the co-Heads to the Department of Mysteries standing on the other side.

"The Minister is recalling you to England," the man said with a slight smile, before frowning, "He has just admitted that Voldemort is back.

**End Chapter**

**A/n:** _Concerning Sirius and the wand, I assume that the Ministry was keeping track of all the magical signatures at Hogwarts for the year in the "extreme off chance" that he had procurred a wand. Sirius, probably thinking of this, didn't use the wand. Afterwards in his escape, he probably used it once he got out of Hogwarts grounds so he wouldn't have to worry to much about being caught._

_In answer to a certain review about laying off the French: Harry (in this story at least) has been on a few missions to France as he mentioned, and has learned to detest the French through his various missions. Why is this important? You'll see..._

_Thank you to everyone that has reviewed and for waiting so long for this chapter! If you want updates on the chapters, and also to discuss this story with others, then be sure to check out my Yahoo!Group (link in my profile). Once again, thank you to everyone that REVIEWED! And if you would be so kind, PLEASE REVIEW!_

_Oh, before I forget, thanks once again to my beta, you're amazing._


	9. The Brilliant White Light

**Torn Away: Scenes From a Memory **by** Tradiferis**

_Disclaimer and Author's Note: I don't own Harry Potter, and never have. I don't own the movie Magnolia or the song "Regression" by Dream Theater, of which some likenesses of have been used in this chapter. **This chapter is rated M (R) for violence and language.**_

_Thank you for the wait._

**Chapter Eleven  
The Brilliant White Light**

_I've often wondered what would have happened if I hadn't have done it. Would I have so radically changed the future that I would have ceased to exist? Or would I have been smart enough to at least to remember to send myself into the past?_

_Part of my job is to examine variables like this. Should I let this event happen? What are the consequences for not letting it happen? What can be learned from this event? Should I let the Ministry actually know about this event? Oh, and my favorite: How much paper work does this event entail?_

_I come to the decision, however, that I must follow the rule that is seemingly the golden rule for being an Unspeakable: The time line must remain. I suppose if more people knew about this rule, _their_ question of all questions would be: How do you know that you are letting the time line remain?_

_I don't know. It's a gift I suppose. Either that or one of the Heads telling me to take my wand out of the picture and let the event happen. I've often wondered how they know so much about the future events. The one time I gave great thought to it though, I realized that it was something I should not contemplate for fear of getting a horrendous nosebleed. So I just now put it up to the fact that they're not the Head's of this department for nothing._

_Or it's need to know information, and I don't need to know._

_As I stare at the ruins of Hogsmead from my perch on top of the former Three Broomsticks, I still can't help but think of that faux question. How do I know I'm not altering the time line? As I look at Snape fully declare his loyalties, I realize that you can't know, or at least you don't know until you've blown up the galaxy._

_Which means that you just have to go with the flow. I smile as I remove my wand, for this is a day I have been dreaming about, quite literally, _ad infinitum_, for the past eight years._

_I remove my Invisibility charm and jump down, landing directly behind four Death Eaters._

"**Stupefy!"**

Harry stood pacing outside of the ward. When he had been recalled to England, he knew a few things had happened: 1) Voldemort had returned, 2) The Department of Mysteries skirmish had occurred, 3) Sirius was now...dead, and 4) Tonks was injured and at St. Mungo's.

Of course, he couldn't let on that he knew all of this, but it wasn't like he needed to do an amazing acting job. His concern for his girlfriend was genuine, and that overrode any acting that he would need to do.

After doing some quick paperwork on the damage done to the Department, he was given the okay to go to St. Mungo's. When he arrived, he found the chaos that normally occurred at the magical hospital, but through his immense training he wasn't distracted, for he couldn't be distracted from his current goal: He needed to find Tonks.

After getting a run around, and then finally resorting to his "special privilege" that he was granted for being an Unspeakable, he forced the receptionist to tell him where Tonks was. After he got to the ward she was being held in (he still couldn't remember the name), he talked to the Head Healer, and found out that he should have been let in all along seeing that he was listed on her information papers that he should be considered kin.

"Ms. Tonks is currently getting treatment for a punctured lung, and a severe concussion Agent Waechter," the Healer had told him, looking at a clipboard for a moment, and then back up at him, "While it isn't anything that we can't fix, it does take some time and some intricate spell work to make sure that her system heals correctly. If you would like, you can wait outside the ward, and when we're finished, an orderly will get you."

Two hours later he was still outside the ward, and if he had looked down, he would have seen that the floor was magically repairing itself of the thread he had worn into it. He had only left the short hallway outside on the ward for five minutes, and that was to send an owl to Patrick about being back in the country, and where he was now.

Conjuring up the most basic of chairs, because that was as much as he could concentrate on at the moment, he put his head in his hands and started to massage his temples. He could feel the box in his pocket almost burning with it's own heartbeat. He had been waiting for this moment for a while now, and although he knew it was going to be like this, he wished that it hadn't.

He looked down at his hands and started to go through his Metamorphmagus training on a stress-reflex. He watched as his hands transformed into old and craggy, and then back again. He was so caught up in concentrating on his hands that he didn't hear the orderly approach him.

"Whoa...that's a neat trick," Harry heard from above him, causing his hands to snap back to their normal state. Harry whipped his head up to look at the young man that was standing before him.

"Yes?" Harry asked, giving the boy a piercing glance that seemed to scare him.

"Uh, you can, er...you can," the orderly said, stumbling over his speech. Harry waved his hand in a gesture that indicated for the boy to hurry up. This surprisingly helped, "Healer Johnson said that you can see Ms. Tonks now."

"Thank you," Harry said, standing up, and walking into the ward were he saw that many of the beds were sealed off from each other through cloths hanging from the ceiling. Looking around, he saw the Healer that he had talked to earlier marking down something on a clipboard.

"Ah, Agent Waechter, I see Orderly Smith found you?" the Healer, apparently Johnson, said.

"Yes, how is Tonks?" Harry asked, getting right to the point. This didn't seem to affect the healer at all, as he was probably used to this.

"She's currently relaxing, and she will need to be for the next day at least," Healer Johnson replied, "We currently have warded her section to be soundproof as to much sound would not be conducive to healing the concussion that she received."

"I can see her though, right?" Harry asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh, of course, just don't get her overly excited," Healer Johnson responded, motioning towards the clothed, and apparently warded, off area next to him. Harry gave the man a firm nod before he entered to see the love of his staring a hole into the curtain that was hanging two feet away from her. Harry put a small smile on his face.

"Dora," he said, just above whispering. He watched slightly amused as Tonks slowly shifted her head, almost non believing, towards him, before a huge grin broke out on her face.

"Oh my God...LUDDIE!" Tonks said as Harry walked over next to her and pulled her into a huge embrace, before giving her a passionate kiss.

"I've missed you so much," Harry said, still holding Tonks in his arms, as he felt tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He pulled back slightly and saw that Tonks was much the same.

"You'll never believe what-" Tonks started slightly anxious before Harry cut her off.

"Shh...calm down," Harry said, laying her back down on the bed, mindful of her injuries, "I already know."

"Then you know about-"

"I know about everything," Harry said, giving her a serious look, "It did happen in my department, honey."

"Has Fudge acknowledged it yet?" Tonks said, looking at Harry, who nodded his head. He reached his hand down into his pocket to take out the box that was pushing into his thigh.

'_I wonder if Healer Johnson would consider this as 'getting her overly excited' much_,' Harry thought with a small laugh in his head.

"Dora, we've been together for six years now, give or take," Harry said, taking her hand, as she looked at him with a questioning look on her face, "And I know that I'm not always by your side, which believe me, pains me as much as it pains you, but I like to think that over these years together we have forged a bond that is unlike anything I have ever felt before in my life."

Harry looked at Tonks and saw that she was nodding, and the tears were still in her eyes, "Now, as our world enters this uncertain time, I feel that it is especially necessary to do this, for as they say, when the times get bad, you always have your loved ones. Dora, honey, I want to have you always."

He heard Tonks give out a slight gasp as he produced the box, and opened it, "Nymphadora Tonks, love of my life, would you give me the pleasure of being my wife?"

Harry looked at Tonks' face, and saw that tears were pouring out of her eyes, "Yes, I would like that more than anything else in the world."

-

Harry looked at the papers in front of him. It just didn't make sense. How could Voldemort always be just one step ahead of both the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix?

Dumbledore insisted that there wasn't a spy this time, that he had taken much more precautions than last time, but it seemed as if all the evidence was pointing towards this.

"Don't worry Mr. Waechter," the old Headmaster had told him, "I have done enough research, it only appears as if Voldemort just has more luck than us at this moment."

Even the time Harry had brought what he thought was indisputable evidence that a spy was in the mists, he was unable to convince Dumbledore to more heavily investigate the dilemma.

Harry ran his hand through the think black hair that was currently adorning his head. Looking at his watch, he decided to go home, for he was just working his way towards a mental breakdown if he didn't take a break. Besides, maybe in the morning he would be able to find a solution in the morning from a fresher mind, and he also was supposed to meet with Tonks so they could do a little planning for their wedding, which still didn't have a specific date.

Bewitching his desk so that only he would be able to read what was on the papers that were scattered across it, he walked out of his office and towards the officially Apparation point.

Later that night, as much as he didn't want to, he returned to his office. It was long after Tonks had fell asleep, and long before he was needed to come in, but something was bugging him about this situation, like he should know what the problem was.

"Okay Ludwig," he told himself, "Let's list everyone that would have access to the strategies...again."

Three hours later, he had listed every member of the Order of the Phoenix and every Auror that made, or was let in on, tactical decisions. He had also, through Moody, been able to eliminate many of the people on the list. Turned out that the ex-Auror had a vast spying network himself, and regularly used truth potions on many members of the Order of the Phoenix. He was also able to cross out most of the Aurors on the list, at least the ones that were given random truth tests.

Deciding to do a 'field run' and try to glean some information from the less than respectable members of society, he adopted a slightly darker appearance, and transfigured his robes accordingly before leaving his office and letting the Heads of the Department of Mysteries know what he was doing.

The run proved to be pretty fruitless, for because of the length of this war so far, it had caused many people to openly declare themselves one way or the other, thus making it harder and harder to find people in the middle who could be used with just the 'right amount of persuasion.

After stopping back at his flat for a quiet dinner with Tonks (who was slightly frustrated that he had left in the middle of the night and not come back till then), he decided to check a few more places. However, this to proved to be just as fruitless as it had been during the day.

Just as he was leaving, he thought he saw a familiar face towards the back of the pub he was in. In fact...it was two familiar faces. Casting a "Notice Me Not" charm on himself, he walked to the back of the pub, and saw why the two faces were familiar. It was Rudolphus and Bellatrix LeStrange.

Trying his best not to let his emotions get the best of him, he calmly waited in the shadows, waiting for the best moment to make a move. His patience payed off, for roughly ten minutes later, Rudolphus stood up because he needed to "use the loo."

Harry followed him out the back door of the pub to the loo that was behind it. When they both entered, Harry cast a locking and silencing ward over the building. This sudden surge close to himself alerted Rudolphus to a presence near him. He whipped around with his wand out, but it was to late as Harry had already cast a full body bind on him.

"Hello Mr. LeStrange," Harry said, taking the charm off of himself, "Pleasure meeting you here this evening. Oh, allow me to introduce myself, I am Special Agent Ludwig Waechter of the Department of Mysteries, and I will be commandeering your likeness this evening. Have you anything to say?"

Harry waved his hand, allowing Rudolphus to speak, "Go to hell you-"

"_Stupefy_," Harry said calmly in Rudolphus' gruff voice. Putting a port key on the man's body which would take him to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he shifted his body into that of Rudolphus' and walked back into the pub, and sat himself down next to Bellatrix.

"Took you long enough honey," the unstable witch told him with an almost normal expression on her face. Harry simply frowned, which caused Bellatrix to laugh slightly. Harry kept up simple conversation everyone that was seated, trying his best to gain any information that he could, while also waiting for his chance to get Bellatrix. His chance presented himself some time later, when she announced that she needed to "powder her nose," while winking at Harry.

"I think I'll go help her," Harry said in Rudolphus' voice, causing a laugh at the table, before following his 'wife' out of the building.

Something didn't feel right though, so he made sure that as he left he slowly and discreetly drew his wand into his hand. It was a good thing to, for as soon as the door to the pub closed behind him, a curse was flying at his head. He managed to duck and roll out of the way.

"Who the hell are you and what have you done with my husband?" Bellatrix demanded throwing another curse at him.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Harry growled, rolling out of the way of another curse before jumping and tackling Bellatrix, and applying a choke hold to her. However, Bellatrix was able to get out of it by somehow being able to conjure a piece of wood and smashing Harry in the head with it.

Harry shook the dizziness out of his eyes just in time to see the Killing Curse heading his way. Conjuring up a rock that blocked the spell, he was able to see Bellatrix Apparate away. He quickly cast a spell that gave him the coordinates for where Bellatrix had Apparated to. He quickly followed, and when he appeared, he noticed that he was in the middle of a forest.

Suddenly, he felt the hair on the back of his neck prick up, and he was able to turn around just in time to summon a branch of a tree to block another Killing Curse.

"How did I know you would follow me," Bellatrix said, emerging from the shadows, with a slightly condescending voice.

"Because you're scared," Harry responded, throwing the tree branch towards Bellatrix with as much magical force as he could. It just barely missed Bellatrix, who simply moved out of the way and gave Harry a superior smile.

"Missed me," she said in a baby-ish voice.

"No I didn't," Harry said with a slight smirk, as the branch leveled Bellatrix from behind. Harry watched as Bellatrix shakily moved her hand to the back of her head to feel the blood the was gushing out of it. He slowly walked over to Bellatrix, who was having a hard time trying to stand. When he made it over to where she was, she was kneeling, and looking at him with a fearful expression on her face. He smiled at her, while she looked up with him with a frightful gaze.

He flung his arm forward, causing her body to go crashing into a tree that was about three feet away. He continued to slowly walk over to where she landed. As he crouched down next to her, he saw that she was coughing up blood. Grabbing her hair roughly, he looked her right in the eyes.

"Before you die, I want to tell you a few things," Harry said with venom lacing his voice, "I want you to know that I hate you, I hate your fucking guts."

Bellatrix looked at Harry with even more fear in her eyes. He took her head and forced her to look at the sky, and made her gaze in a direction that he had memorized by now.

"Tell me, what is interesting about that area of the sky?" Harry growled, pulling on her hair painfully.

"I don't know!" Bellatrix cried out.

"Hmmm, why don't I help you then?" Harry said, pressing a hand into her forehead, and muttering a spell under his breath. Seconds later, Bellatrix was screaming as steam started to come out from under Harry's hand. When he removed his hand, Bellatrix had something carved into her forehead.

"Tell me, do you know what those coordinates are that I just put into your forehead?" Harry said, looking Bellatrix straight in the eye.

"They are for Sirius, the Dog Star," Bellatrix said, sobbing.

"Very good," Harry said, condescendingly, "Now do you know why I'm making you know this?"

"No," Bellatrix sobbed out. Harry smiled as he shifted his body into that of his true self. He watched in satisfaction as horror overcame Bellatrix's face as she realized who he was.

"Just fucking die, you fuck," Harry said, putting his wand up to Bellatrix's temple...

-

"Mr. Waechter, why don't you tell me what's going on," the Department of Mysteries Healer in front of Harry told him.

"I don't know," Harry responded, massaging his temples, "I haven't been able to get much sleep for the past few months, and I know it isn't because I'm stressed out. It seems to be like I'm forgetting something. It's like I have this nagging feeling like I should know something, but yet I don't know it."

The Healer looked at Harry with a calculating look on his face, before saying in an even voice, "Have you ever heard of Magical Regression Therapy?"

"Isn't that a type of Legilimency where a Healer walks the subject through their mind trying to find lost memories?" Harry responded, cocking his head to the side.

"More or less," the Healer responded, taking out a pad of paper, "I feel that this would be helpful to you. Here, take this to the Heads, so I can get clearance to do this for you."

Ten minutes later, Harry was laying on a couch, staring up at a ceiling as the healer talked.

"Close your eyes and begin to relax. Know, that I will not be able to see your memories. Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly," the Healer was telling Harry with a calm voice, "Concentrate on your breathing. With each breath you become more relaxed."

Harry felt himself sinking into his mental shields as the Healer went on, "Imagine a brilliant white light above you, focusing on this light as it flows through your body. Allow yourself to drift off as you fall deeper and deeper into a more relaxed state of mind."

Harry felt his mental shields slowly relaxing, and the light he was seeing spread throughout his organized mind. Harry barely heard the Healer continue to talk, "Now as I count backward from ten to one, you will fill more peaceful, and calm. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. You will enter a safe place where nothing can harm you. Five. Four. Three. Two. If at any time you need to came back, all you must do is open your eyes. One. _Imperomens_."

Harry found himself almost literally standing in his mind. He looked around and felt a sudden urge to search for all areas of his mind where the white light that dominated his mind wasn't present. Looking around, he saw that towards the end of one hallway, the light seemed to get darker. As he walked towards it, he kept on sensing the need that he should stay away from it, but another more powerful voice in his head told him to keep on towards his target.

When he approached what was a darkened corner he noticed a Pensieve-like bowl was on the floor. Pushing away all thoughts that he shouldn't look at it, he put his hand into the bowl and was sucked into it.

He looked around and saw that he was in the middle of a battle. He was about to walk towards what looked like Albus Dumbledore and a younger version of himself talking, when a sudden memory of his own appeared before his eyes.

_"Victory is mine Dumbledore!" Voldemort bellowed as Death Eaters entered into the area and started dueling with Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry shifted back into his previous form before Voldemort and the Death Eaters could see him. Dumbledore looked pleased to see Snape, but that look of pleasure soon turned into horror as he saw Snape firing killing curses off at will, picking off members of the Light one by one. Walking over to Dumbledore and Harry, Voldemort and Snape seemed to be moving in slow motion._

_"It seems 'your' spy was really ours all along Dumbledore," Voldemort said with a maniacal laugh in his voice. Snape simply sneered, and then he recognized Harry, or rather the disguise of Harry. Snape's sneer became one of intense anger, and that's when Harry noticed the gash that was across Snape's face from the Severing Charm that he had used earlier..._

"OPEN YOUR EYES AGENT WAECHTER!"

Harry snapped up into a sitting position with sweat pealing down his forehead. Looking over to the Healer, he saw the co-Heads of the Department of Mysteries standing there.

"You now know what you're here for Mr. Potter," the one on the left said.

Harry looked up at the two with a serious expression on his face, "The Battle of Hogsmead is occurring right now isn't it?"

"Yes it is," the co-Head on the right told Harry, "God speed Mr. Potter. You can Apparate directly from here."

Harry nodded, and concentrated on the village of Hogsmead before a small 'pop' indicated that he was gone.

-

"Victory is mine Dumbledore!" Harry heard Voldemort shout as he fought his way towards where his younger self and Dumbledore were standing. He watched as Snape picked off people with his wand, making his way with the Dark Lord towards where Harry himself was trying to get.

He quickly fought his way towards where he saw Voldemort talking to Dumbledore and his younger self. Voldemort raised his wand, and was about to cast a spell.

"No!" Harry shouted out, although it was hard to hear over the fighting. He quickly waved his hand, cause Snape and Voldemort to be thrown back. He was going to continue his way over, when a Death Eater fired a Stunning Curse at him.

"_Reducto_!" Harry shouted back, causing the Death Eater's wand arm to be blown off of his body. While the Death Eater was looking in horror down at the stump where his arm had formerly been, Harry quickly swung his arm and hit the Death Eater with a closed backhand across the face, which knocked the Death Eater out.

Looking back to where he knew Voldemort and Snape to be, he saw Snape standing over his younger self. Running as fast as he could, he shouted the one spell he knew that would take care of the one person that had made his life such a living hell, "_Avada Kedavra_!"

Harry watched as the curse flew through the air and hit the Potions Master in the back, killing him. Turning around quickly, he was able to just barely avoid a pair of curses that flew over his head. He quickly engaged the two Death Eaters in combat, but he knew time was running out. He couldn't let his younger self go back in time with knowledge of what Snape was. It would screw up his reason for being where he was, and thus cause the feared paradox.

He punched one of the Death Eaters in the face, breaking his nose, while he stunned the second one. Turning his attention around, he saw his younger self turning the dial back on the Time Turner. Thinking of the knowledge that he couldn't know, Harry concentrated on the one spell that would shape the rest of his life, before shouting out, "OBLIVIATE!"

He couldn't watch the spell though, for the Death Eater whose nose he had broken had recovered enough to try to engage him in hand to hand combat. As he quickly knocked the person out with a well placed elbow to the head, he knew his spell had hit it's mark, for he was still there.

Running over to Dumbledore, he looked at the Headmaster in the face.

"How come it didn't work Harry?" the dying man asked him.

"You should know that you can't change time, it is always how it is supposed to be," Harry responded, a tear falling down his face, as he watched his mentor die.

"The power Harry," Dumbledore choked out, "Is your ability to lover, even if you must kill. Your power is your love my boy, remember that."

Harry watched the man close his eyes, and he knew that he had died. Looking up he saw Voldemort struggling to stand.

"Is the old man dead?" Voldemort asked, looking at Harry.

"Yes he is Tom," Harry said, standing up also, with a note of power in his voice.

"Who are you?" Voldemort asked shakily, for he could feel the power radiating off of the man in front of him."

"I think you know Mr. Riddle," Harry said, as he shifted into his true form.

"Potter!" Voldemort shouted out, "But you just-"

"Went back in time," Harry said, walking over to Voldemort, who Harry noticed was without his wand, "Now I'm back. Tell me, did you ever figure out who killed Bellatrix?"

"You..." Voldemort said, looking at Harry with fear in his eyes.

"Tell me, did you know that while the Killing Curse is almost always cast out of immense hate," Harry said, waving his hand, causing Voldemort's body to stiffen again, "Did you know that it was originally casted out of love to let a dieing man out of his misery? No? Didn't think so."

"You tried to take everything away from me," Harry said, looking at Voldemort, before knealing down next to him, "But something happened when I went back into the past. I found a family, and I found true love."

Harry held up his hand so that Voldemort could see the ring on his finger, "And through this love, I am going to put this chapter of my life to an end. Know that I cast this spell with total love for everyone that has ever loved me, and for everyone that loves me know. Goodbye."

Harry raised his wand up to the terrified shell of a man's temple, and thought of everything that he had just said, the last picture in his mind being Tonks, "_Avada Kedavra_."

**End Chapter.**

_A/n: _Thank you once again for the wait! Just one more chapter left in this entire story! Thank you all also for the reviews, they have been great. Check out my yahoo!group (link in my profile) for more information on this story, and to also find out about updates to this story and my others.

Please review and thank you once again for sticking with me!


	10. Finally Free

**Torn Away: Scenes From a Memory by Tradiferis**

_Disclaimer and Author's Note: I don't own Harry Potter, or the band Dream Theater for that matter. At the moment I'm barely owning my sanity _:)_. This is the last chapter, thanks for sticking with it!_

**Chapter Twelve  
Finally Free**

**You-Know-Who Finally Dead**  
_Boy-Who-Lived and Albus Dumbledore Die Defeating Dark Lord_

_It can now be confirmed that You-Know-Who, the greatest Dark Lord of the past 50 years, is now dead. Unspeakable Fourth Class Ludwig Waechter from the Department of Mysteries, who witnessed the end, has confirmed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has met his final demise, albeit at a heavy price._

_"Yes, Lord V------- is dead, at last, defeated in a combined effort by Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore," the Unspeakable stated, "However, both Headmaster Dumbledore and Mr. Potter made the ultimate sacrifice in making sure that the Dark Lord met his final end."_

_When asked how the esteemed Headmaster and the Boy-Who-Lived died, the Unspeakable responded, "Headmaster Dumbledore was over 150 years old and dueled Voldemort until his age finally caught up with him. Mr. Potter was then able to move in to defeat a heavily weakened Voldemort, although the spell he used was so taxing on his system it could not hold up anymore. My thoughts are with Headmaster Dumbledore's and Mr. Potter's family and friends."_

_Minister Bones has announced that Mr. Potter will be receiving the Order of Merlin, First Class posthumously for his actions in defending the Wizarding World..._

"How I wish you could be here to celebrate this with me," Harry said, looking up from the paper to the tombstone that was in front of him, "You know, not a day goes by where I wish I was able to change things just so you could be here by my side, Ron's too.

"You know, I think he misses you most of all Hermione. I think the 'death' of me isn't going to sit to well with him either...do you think I should tell him?" Harry asked the tombstone, which was engraved HERMIONE GRANGER, "I suppose I will after the wedding and everything has died down. Oh, I almost forgot!"

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box, "This is the Order of Merlin, First Class that I got for 'actions going above and beyond that of a normal wizard in helping to ensure the safety and viability of the Magical World during the Battle of Hogsmead and the Siege of Hogwarts.' I...this belongs to you my friend. If it wasn't for you none of us would be where we are right now...you did so much for me..."

Harry rubbed his hand over Hermione's name, "We all miss you so much Hermione..."

Harry trailed off as tears started to form in his eyes, "Merlin, I miss you Hermione. You were supposed to be by my side! The Golden Trio! You were my sister! Why did you have to die?"

Harry fell down onto his arms, looking at the tombstone, tears falling from his eyes. He tried to speak, but the words just failed to come out. He lent back onto his knees, still, staring at the slab of stone.

"I'm getting married in two weeks," Harry said, trying to make his voice sound normal, but failing miserably at it, "The Ministry wants to hold it at the official Ministry Hall of Sacred Events, due to Tonks being an Auror, and my being an Unspeakable, and an Order of Merlin member to boot. I'm expecting you there Miss Granger! I'm not taking 'no' for an answer, you hear me?"

Harry wiped the renegade drops that were still on his face, and leaned down to kiss the tombstone. He stood up, and looked at the burial plot of one of the best friends that he ever had, "Rest in peace my friend. Rest in peace."

-

"Thank you for coming Healer," Molly Weasley said, in a slightly panicked voice, "We have no idea what is wrong with him."

"I'm glad that you decided to bring in help, rather than wait," Harry responded, feeling bad for having to lie to the woman who at one point in time had been his like his mother, "Sometimes, waiting can do more bad things than good, and by what you described to me, it's a good thing you did indeed call."

"He's right in here," Mrs. Weasley said, motioning to the door that was next to her in the Weasley's rebuilt home. Harry nodded, and was about to enter when Molly grabbed his arm, "Thank you once again, Healer...?"

"Peabody, Healer Peabody," Harry replied, before walking into the room. Mrs. Weasley was about to say something but Harry waved his left hand and the door slammed shut. With a snap of his fingers, the door locked. Harry looked and noticed that Ron was sitting staring out the window, and it appeared as if the boy hadn't eaten for many a day.

"Good day Mr. Weasley," Harry said, getting Ron's attention for the door slam didn't seem to have had any effect on the morose boy.

"Who are you?" Ron asked, still looking out the window, and not really acknowledging Harry's presence.

"I am here because your entire family is worried about you," Harry told Ron, not really answering his question.

"So you're a Healer then?" Ron asked, turning around to look at Harry with thinly veiled dislike in his eyes.

"Not quite," Harry responded with a slight smirk, setting down the bag he was carrying on Ron's bed.

"What are you then?" Ron asked with blatant distrust in his voice.

"I am concerned about your mental state," Harry responded, shifting his appearance to that which matched 'Ludwig.'

"Luddie!"

"In the flesh, so to speak," Harry responded, watching Ron's eyes become as round as saucers.

"Why are you here?" Ron asked.

"Because I thought you wouldn't mind not having a file on record for suspected ill health," Harry told him, before conjuring up a chair, spinning it around, and sitting in it backwards so that he was facing Ron, "Now, before a real Healer actually needs to be called in, can you tell me what the hell is going on with you?"

"What do you think?" Ron almost exploded, leaping out of his chair, "My two best friends die in a six month period, and people are wondering what's going on with me! Shouldn't it be OBVIOUS!"

"I also take it you're tired of hearing people tell you that Hermione and Harry wouldn't like you to mope around?" Harry asked, experiencing a minor flashback to the summer after his fifth year.

"I swear to God I'm going to take the Mickey out of the next person who tells me that," Ron said, throwing himself down into the chair he had been sitting on, "I miss them so much, everything I see reminds me of them...they were my two best friends! How can I be anything but okay? HOW!"

"This sounds eerily familiar," Harry commented to himself, but Ron heard him, and gave him an odd look, "I had a conversation that was very similar to this with Harry over the Easter holiday."

"You were the one in the _Daily Prophet_ that saw what happened between Harry, Dumbledore, and that bastard," Ron said without preamble, silent tears filling up his eyes, "Tell me, how did Harry die? Why did he die? Please tell me...I-I have to know, I have to know! _Please tell me_."

Harry looked Ron straight in the eyes, thinking about exactly what he should say. He sighed before saying something that could have potentially disastrous results, "I killed him."

Ron just looked at him, stunned, before a gamut of emotions ran across his face before settling on outrage, "WHAT!"

"I killed him," Harry responded, fingering his wand idly in case Ron did anything rash, "You have to understand-"

"I DON'T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!" Ron raged, "YOU KILLED HIM! I'LL KILL YOU!"

Ron launched himself at Harry, who quickly waved his wand, putting Ron's legs in leg locker.

"Did you forget that I am a fully trained Unspeakable Ron?" Harry said, putting his foot on Ron's chest, and looking down on him with his wand pointing at Ron's head, "Now, I am going to take the bind off of you, and then I will finish answering your questions, only if you promise to hear everything. Afterwards, I will let you do anything you want to me, but only afterwards. _Got it?_"

As Ron nodded, Harry shook off another flashback that came back to him. Harry waved his wand, and Ron tensed underneath him.

"Now, I believe you asked me why Harry died?" Harry asked, his wand still trained on the redhead's head.

"Get on with it you bastard," Ron snarled out. Harry sighed, before closing his eyes in concentration and willing himself back to his natural appearance.

"Because, Weasley," Harry stated in his true voice, "I wanted to live my life by my own terms and conditions, not anyone others. Besides, I really like the way my life is now."

Ron looked at him in complete surprise, not totally being able to form words. After a few moments he finally was able to say, "HARRY! You-you-you're Luddie? But what happened to Harry, I mean, you..."

Ron trailed off, still looking at Harry in complete surprise. Harry smiled, looking at his friend, "It's complicated, but let's just say that it needed to happen this way. Otherwise, Voldemort never would have been defeated."

Ron just continued to look at Harry in bewilderment, surprisingly taking it really well, but a million questions swirling in his eyes. He finally latched onto the most 'neutral' one that he could think of, "So you're getting married to Tonks then? Does she know?"

"No she doesn't," Harry said with a very serious voice, "And she never is going to. Ron you have to understand, Harry Potter is DEAD. I am no longer Harry Potter, I am Ludwig Waechter, Unspeakable Fourth Class, and recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class. This is my life now, I'm sorry."

Ron just continued to look at Ludwig from the floor as he removed his foot from his chest and sat back down in the chair. Ludwig looked at Ron again, before saying, "I've missed you for all the years I was away. I hope you won't totally shut me out now that I'm eight years older than you."

"I could never shut you out, never," Ron responded, tears falling down his face. Ludwig reached his hand down and helped Ron up to his feet. He smiled at his long lost friend, before enveloping him in a hug.

-

Ludwig looked over to his right and smiled at his new wife, who rolled her eyes. The reception party was being held at Patrick's home, and the two newlyweds were sitting at a high table while Ludwig's best man, Liam Flaighly, was giving a speech about the time Ludwig had gotten plastered at the Hog's Head in Hogsmead in the boy's last year at Hogwarts.

"Now, while he was of age, this was the first time that Luddie here realized that he just might have a drinking problem," Liam said, looking at Ludwig with an evil smirk, causing Ludwig to give him a very rude gesture, causing the crowd to laugh, "It just so happened that Professor Flitwick was meeting a friend in the pub, and when he saw Luddie he almost had a heart attack. So he went up to one of his best students and-"

"Okay, I think we can end the story here!" Ludwig shouted out, causing the crowd to laugh once again. All of a sudden, he noticed he didn't have any lips anymore, and looked over and saw his wife twirling her wand between her fingers.

"Go on Liam," Nymphadora Waechter said with a smirk, "I want to hear this story."

"Well, Professor Flitwick walked up to Luddie and before he could old Flitwick could say anything, this moron here starts prattling on about how he was taking on any challengers to a duel. Well, the Professor takes Luddie up on his offer, and soundly beats him in less than ten seconds because this poof was so pissed he could barely walk."

Ludwig waved his hand over where his mouth was supposed to be, and undid his wife's spell, "You're also leaving out that Firewhiskey when combined with other alcohols gives you a massive ego rush!"

"Even so," Liam said, laughing along with the rest of the audience, "To the young kids in attendance here today, if you've ever wondered why Hogwarts students of any age can only drink Butterbeer now, this drunk is the reason why!"

The crowd laughed as Ludwig had the decency to look slightly ashamed. Liam held up his goblet and looked at the couple of honor, "Ludwig, I have known you since sixth year, and you're one of the best friends that a guy could have. Nymphadora, I have known you since we both started at Hogwarts, and I can say you're one of the friendliest people that I've ever known. Besides, with the amount of times you two have fallen down the stairs, or tripped over your own two feet, you guys are made for each other! Here's to a long and happy marriage. Cheers!"

Later that evening, Ludwig looked at the now Mrs. Waechter as the two were dancing, and gave her a funny grin.

"What?" she asked, almost self-consciously, blowing a strand of curly blond out from in front of her eyes.

"I was just thinking," Ludwig said, "Now that your last name is Waechter, what are people going to call you? They can't exactly call you 'Tonks' now can they?"

The former Tonks laughed, almost stumbling out of her husband's arms as they danced. She gave him a calculating look, and responded, "Well, I guess I'm just going to have to get used to people calling me Nymphadora...although Auror Waechter does sound pretty good."

"That sounds perfect to me," Ludwig said, leaning in and giving Nymphadora a kiss, "Although you're always going to be 'Dora' to me."

He twirled her around, and surprisingly she didn't trip over her feet. Laughing she leaned into her husband's chest.

"I love you," Nymphadora said to Ludwig, holding him tightly.

"And I love you," Ludwig responded back, holding her just as firmly. Suddenly, Ludwig felt a tug on the sleeve of his dress robe. He looked besides him and saw his two adopted sisters standing there.

"Well, look who we have here," Ludwig said, smiling to Gwen and Stacey.

"Pardon us, lady," the twins said with a smile, "But may we have a dance with our brother?"

"Gladly," Nymphadora said with a laugh, almost pushing Ludwig away with a laugh, "Just don't keep him to long, we have many things we need to do tonight."

The twins laughed as she gave a wink, and pulled Ludwig into a dance.

"Ludwig you lucky boy," Gwen said while her sister laughed.

"And what would you know about what we're going to do?" Ludwig asked, looking slightly worried, and suspicious at the same time.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Stacey replied, while the twins laughed impishly.

"You two are going to be the death of me," Ludwig commented, and then the siblings shared a laugh.

As Ludwig was dancing with his two sisters, he looked over and saw his wife chatting with Patrick. He smiled down at his sisters and looked up at the sky to where he knew that some of the most important people in his life were looking down at him. He had finally found his life, he was finally free.

_**End.**_

_A/n:_ And that's the end. Thank you all for sticking with me through the entire story and for all the reviews! They have meant a lot!

From here, I am working on a new story, and I hope to have the first chapter up by the end of June. To get updates, please check out my yahoo!group or my livejournal, both of which you can find links to in my profile.

Once again, thank you for all the reviews and kind words. Adios!


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